>>>ANSA/Salvini acquitted in Open Arms case

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 21 - Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on Saturday said a justice reform to separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors was even more urgent after his acquittal Friday night in the three-year-long Open Arms trial in which he faced charges of abduction and refusal to perform public acts.
    "I wasn't scared.
    "It is a fair sentence that I was expecting.
    "I have to say that, yesterday, in court in Palermo, I saw a correct, fair and healthy separation between those who judge and those who prosecute.
    "But it's not always the case.
    "Therefore, now the separation of career paths" and the possibility of prosecuting magistrates in civil courts for bad decisions made "intentionally" while carrying out their duties "is fundamental", he said.
    The League leader went on to stress that the Open Arms trial "cost millions of euros.
    "The justice reform is even more urgent than yesterday.
    "Surely, yesterday's sentence will not put in a difficult position any more ministers in their jobs", noted Salvini.
    The deputy premier also said that the sentence recognized that he had fulfilled his duty and repaid him for all the bitterness he had endured.
    The acquittal "recognizes the fact that I fulfilled my duty and repays me for all the bitterness", Salvini told reporters in Rome. Asked about a potential return as interior minister, Salvini said: "I am fine where I am, for now".
    "What I did at the interior ministry was absolutely correct.
    "If someone thought over the last few years: 'you can't return to the Viminale (interior ministry) because you are on trial, you are potentially a criminal'…this thing is over", he said.
    A court of first instance in Palermo on Friday night acquitted Salvini of charges of abduction and refusal to perform public acts for halting the disembarkation of 147 migrants rescued by the Spanish NGO Open Arms vessel in August 2019 as part of his closed-ports policy when he was interior minister.
    The three-judge panel ruled that Salvini had no case to answer.
    Prosecutors had requested a six-year jail term for Salvini, who was accused of illegitimately denying the disembarkation of the 147 migrants on Lampedusa for nearly three weeks as part of his controversial policy to curb irregular arrivals.
    Palermo State attorneys Marzia Sabella, Gery Ferrara and Giorgia Righi contended that Salvini, in doing so, had violated national and international law, stating that he had exceeded his powers when national security was not at stake, Sabella said Friday in her final statements prior to the verdict.
    Earlier this year, the three prosecutors were given a security detail after receiving insults and threats on social media amid the high-profile trial.
    After the verdict, Premier Giorgia Meloni spoke about "unfounded charges" and wrote on social media: "Let us continue together, with tenacity and determination, to fight illegal immigration, human trafficking and to defend national sovereignty".
    Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani noted that "there is a judge in Palermo".
    Justice Minister Carlo Nordio paid "homage to these courageous magistrates" but then added that the "trial should never have started".
    "Trials like this, based on nothing, slow down the administration, I think it is necessary to reflect on our imperfect system", said Nordio, who is the architect of the proposed reform of the judiciary which includes separating the career paths of judges and prosecutors.
    Salvini also received support from far-right allies in Europe with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailing the League leader after the verdict and noting that "justice has been served".
    Earlier, Elon Musk, who is advising US President-elect Donald Trump, said hopefully Salvini would serve as interior minister again and wrote on his platfrom X that it was "crazy" that Salvini was tried "for defending Italy".
    In the opposition, the leader of the Five-Star movement (M5S) Giuseppe Conte who served as prime minister in the cabinet led by the M5S and League party when Salvini was interior minister in 2019, said the sentence "must be respected", adding he would comment on the verdict once the motivations were published.
    He added, however, that "judges are an autonomous power" and "it's a good thing for the right to keep this in mind when they think they are right".
    Elly Schlein, the leader of the largest opposition member, the Democratic Party (PD), said "sentences must always be respected, contrary to what the right does".
    The Open Arms case started after the migrants were rescued in Libyan SAR waters by the vessel operated by the Catalan NGO.
    Crew members asked Italian and Maltese authorities to be assigned a safe port for disembarkation, which was denied by both with Salvini issuing a decree banning entry into Italian waters.
    The decision was taken by the interior ministry as part of security decrees passed by the government and in agreement with the ministers of defence and transport, respectively Elisabetta Trenta and Danilo Toninelli, both members of the M5S.
    Meanwhile the Open Arms repeatedly urged the interior ministry to allow the refugees to disembark, expressing concern over the welfare of passengers.
    The NGO also carried out another rescue operation during the confrontation, before appealing to Lazio's regional administrative court (TAR) which suspended Salvini's closed-ports measure. The stalemate was ended by Luigi Patronaggio, the chief prosecutor of Agrigento, which has jurisdiction over Lampedusa. Patronaggio went on board to determine the condition of passengers and decided to seize the boat and to order that the migrants be brought ashore on August 20.
    Prosecutors indicted Salvini after the tribunal of ministers gave its green light, considering the minister's decisions as administrative and not as political acts.
    The trial of first instance began on September 15, 2021 and continued with 24 hearings over three years until Friday.
    Speaking after the verdict, the head of the Spanish NGO that operated the vessel, Oscar Camps, a plaintiff in the trial, said he was "particularly sorry for the people who were deprived of their freedom" while Salvini stressed he had "only defended the border". (ANSA).