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".
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