The trial of right-wing Italian politician Matteo Salvini, accused of having illegally blocked 147 migrants at sea in 2019, when he was interior minister, began Saturday in Palermo, Sicily.
The leader of the far-right Liga party, anti-migration and part of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s governing coalition, is accused of kidnapping and abuse of power for having banned 147 rescued migrants from disembarking in the Mediterranean Sea by the NGO Open Arms in August 2019.
At the opening of the court case, prosecutors requested permission to question Salvini, who was in court.
The hearing, of a process that began on September 15 and was immediately postponed, was a mere procedural step that lasted less than three hours, before Judge Roberto Murgia announced that the next session would take place on December 17.
If found guilty, Salvini could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Salvini claims that the decision was not taken by him alone, but by the government, including the prime minister at the time, Giuseppe Conte.
The statement prompted prosecutors to ask Conte, current Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, and Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio, as witnesses.
Judge Murgia said American actor Richard Gere will be allowed to appear as a witness, as requested by Open Arms, the Spanish NGO that operated the rescue boat.
Gere boarded the ship in a gesture of solidarity with the immigrants, before the vessel docked on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
“Here is the Palermo prison court,” tweeted Salvini from the courtroom.
“The process that the left and the supporters of illegal immigration wanted begins: how much will it cost Italian citizens?” asked Salvini.
Before the hearing, Open Arms founder and director Oscar Camps said the trial was not politically motivated.
“Saving people is not a crime, it’s an obligation, not just for captains but for the entire state,” Camps told reporters.
The start of the process coincided with the arrival of 406 migrants, rescued in various operations off the Libyan coast by the NGO Sea Watch, in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, according to the Italian agency AGI.
– ‘Closed door’ policy –
For six days, Italian authorities refused permission to enter a safe harbor for the Spanish organization’s boat, which anchored off the small Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, while the conditions of those on board worsened.
The migrants disembarked thanks to an order issued by the Sicilian justice after an inspection on board that confirmed the health emergency and overcrowding inside the ship.
Salvini, 48, says he acted for the good of Italy with his “closed doors” policy to dissuade migrants from embarking on African coasts for a dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.
Italy’s Senate last year approved the suspension of Salvini’s parliamentary immunity, which paved the way for the trial.
A similar case in which Salvini was accused of blocking other migrants at sea from an Italian Coast Guard boat was rejected by a Catania court earlier this year.
The League is against the arrival of migrants, claiming that Italy bears an unfair burden as it is the first entry point into Europe for people from North Africa.
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