Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini set to hear migrant kidnapping verdict
Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, attends a rally ahead of the Sept. 25 snap election, in Pontida, Italy, September 18, 2022. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo
A court in Palermo is expected to deliver a verdict on Friday in a trial involving Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, who risks a six-year prison term for kidnapping for holding a boat full of migrants offshore for almost three weeks in 2019, News.az reports citing Reuters.
Salvini, who was interior minister at the time, tried to prevent the Spanish charity Open Arms bringing 147 asylum seekers to Italy as part of his policy to close the ports to migrant boats and curb irregular arrivals.
If convicted, he will have a right to two appeals before a final ruling that could bar him from holding office, which could take years. He has vowed not to stand down if found guilty at the first instance, and he has the support of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"I am absolutely proud of what I did. I kept the promises I made, I fought mass immigration and, whatever the sentence, for me today is a good day because I am proud to have defended my country," Salvini said as he entered the Sicilian court.
"I would do everything I did again."
After an initial session, the judges were due to retire for deliberations. Although they were expected to reach a verdict later on Friday, it was possible they might need until the weekend.
The verdict comes against a backdrop of tensions between Meloni's government and the judiciary on migration, after a court in Rome questioned the legality of her flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Albania.
Salvini has argued that he only aimed to defend national borders, and accused the charity groups of helping to attract migrants to Italy.
The ship picked up the mainly African migrants off Libya over a two-week period and asked to dock in an Italian port.
It turned down a request to sail to its home country Spain, saying those on board were too exhausted and needed immediate care.
Magistrates eventually seized the boat and ordered the migrants to be brought ashore, but Salvini was subsequently charged with kidnapping and dereliction of duty.
Defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, who is also a senator with Salvini's League party, told the judges the boats had had no automatic right to dock in Italy and the migrants could have been taken elsewhere if the charity was concerned for their welfare.
In Brussels on Thursday, Salvini met allies from the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament.
A number of them, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish Vox party, posed for a picture with Salvini, holding T-shirts showing his face and the message "Guilty - of having defended Italy."
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is set to become a member of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration, last month criticised Italian judges for ruling against the plan to send migrants to Albania. He wrote on his X account that it was "crazy" that Salvini was being tried for "defending Italy."
Salvini, who was interior minister at the time, tried to prevent the Spanish charity Open Arms bringing 147 asylum seekers to Italy as part of his policy to close the ports to migrant boats and curb irregular arrivals.
If convicted, he will have a right to two appeals before a final ruling that could bar him from holding office, which could take years. He has vowed not to stand down if found guilty at the first instance, and he has the support of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"I am absolutely proud of what I did. I kept the promises I made, I fought mass immigration and, whatever the sentence, for me today is a good day because I am proud to have defended my country," Salvini said as he entered the Sicilian court.
"I would do everything I did again."
After an initial session, the judges were due to retire for deliberations. Although they were expected to reach a verdict later on Friday, it was possible they might need until the weekend.
The verdict comes against a backdrop of tensions between Meloni's government and the judiciary on migration, after a court in Rome questioned the legality of her flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Albania.
Salvini has argued that he only aimed to defend national borders, and accused the charity groups of helping to attract migrants to Italy.
The ship picked up the mainly African migrants off Libya over a two-week period and asked to dock in an Italian port.
It turned down a request to sail to its home country Spain, saying those on board were too exhausted and needed immediate care.
Magistrates eventually seized the boat and ordered the migrants to be brought ashore, but Salvini was subsequently charged with kidnapping and dereliction of duty.
Defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, who is also a senator with Salvini's League party, told the judges the boats had had no automatic right to dock in Italy and the migrants could have been taken elsewhere if the charity was concerned for their welfare.
In Brussels on Thursday, Salvini met allies from the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament.
A number of them, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish Vox party, posed for a picture with Salvini, holding T-shirts showing his face and the message "Guilty - of having defended Italy."
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is set to become a member of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration, last month criticised Italian judges for ruling against the plan to send migrants to Albania. He wrote on his X account that it was "crazy" that Salvini was being tried for "defending Italy."
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