A court of first instance in Palermo
has acquitted Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo
Salvini on 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.
"Defending the homeland is not a crime", the deputy premier said
after the sentence was read on Friday night.
"Those who thought they could use migrants for political ends
lost and will return to Spain with their hands in their
pockets", he added, referring to Open Arms, whose chief Oscar
Camps was a plaintiff in the trial.
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 when he was
interior minister.
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 a
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, wrote on his platfrom X: "Crazy that Salvini is being
tried for defending Italy".
In the opposition, the leader of the Five-Star movement (M5S)
Giuseppe Conte who was the prime minister of 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.
The crew 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 deisembark due to the poor situation on
board, expressing concern over the welfare of passengers, who
included minors.
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 and before the stalemate was ended by Luigi
Patronaggio, the 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 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 Open Arms Oscar Camps
said he was "particularly sorry for the people who were deprived
of their freedom" while Salvini stressed he had "only defended
the border".
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