Migrants stranded at sea: Salvini’s trial opens … in prison – The HuffPost

via Associated Press

Matteo Salvini in court in Palermo, Sicily, October 23, 2021.

INTERNATIONAL – The trial of Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini, accused of illegally stranded at sea 147 migrants in 2019 when he was Minister of the Interior, started this Saturday 23 October in Palermo, in Sicily. He is accused of kidnapping people and abuse of power.

The hearing, which Matteo Salvini attends, takes place while 406 migrants, rescued during several operations off the coast of the Libya by the German NGO Sea Watch 3 Sea watch, arrived in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo to disembark, according to the Italian agency AGI.

“This is the Palermo prison court,” Matteo Salvini tweeted from the courtroom with a photo of himself standing in front of a cell reserved for certain defendants. “The trial wanted by the left and the fans of illegal immigration begins: how much will it cost Italian citizens?”.

Who Aula di Giustizia del Carcere di Palermo. Il processo voluto dalla sinistra e dai tifosi dell’immigrazione clandestina comincia: quanto costerà ai cittadini italiani? pic.twitter.com/LKUUjLSOFD

– Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) October 23, 2021

The trial opened on September 15 but was immediately postponed. Saturday’s hearing is expected to be largely procedural, with Judge Roberto Murgia having to decide on the admissibility of the witnesses presented. Matteo Salvini faces up to 15 years in prison.

Matteo Salvini, 48, is the leader of La Ligue, a far-right anti-migrant party that belongs to the current ruling coalition led by Mario Draghi.

Migrants adrift

He had refused for six days to grant a safe port to the ship of the Spanish NGO which anchored off the small Italian island of Lampedusa (south of Sicily) as conditions on board worsened.

The migrants were only allowed to disembark thanks to an order issued by the Sicilian justice after an on-board inspection which had confirmed the seriousness of the health situation on the overcrowded ship.

Known for his controversial statements, especially on immigration, Matteo Salvini was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in the first government of Giuseppe Conte, from June 2018 to September 2019.

He claims to have acted for the good of Italy and to dissuade migrants from embarking on African coasts for a dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean, stressing that the decision had been validated by the government of the time and Giuseppe Conte.

The prosecution requested that the latter be on the witness list, as well as Luciana Lamorgese and Luigi Di Maio currently respectively ministers of the interior and foreign affairs.

“Saving people is not a crime but an obligation”

In court, Open Arms founder and director Oscar Camps assured reporters that the trial was not politically motivated. “Saving people is not a crime but an obligation, not only for the captains but for the entire state,” he said.

Twenty-three civil parties, including nine migrants who were on board, are represented at the trial.

The Senate voted last year to lift his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for the trial of Matteo Salvini.

In another similar case, the court of Catania, also in Sicily, had ordered the abandonment of the proceedings against Matteo Salvini, implicated for having stranded at sea a hundred migrants rescued by the ship “Gregoretti” of the Italian coast guard. , still during the summer of 2019.

See also on The HuffPost: “She’s alive!”: A baby resuscitated after the rescue of 52 migrants in the Canaries

Migrants adrift

“Saving people is not a crime but an obligation”

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