The head of the far-right League had been accused of crimes such as kidnapping people and failing to perform official acts, and the public prosecutor’s office had demanded a six-year prison sentence for him.
The Court of Palermo (southern Italy) acquitted this Friday Matteo Salvinithe current vice president of the Italian government, accused of blocking the 2019 landing of the 147 immigrants rescued in the central Mediterranean by the Spanish NGO Open Arms.
The head of the far-right League had been accused of crimes such as kidnapping people and failing to perform official acts The Public Prosecution Service had demanded a prison sentence of six years prison for him.
The case dates back to August 2019, when Salvini, then Interior Minister, prevented the landing in Italy of the Open Arms ship with 147 immigrants on board rescued in the Mediterranean, within the framework of the strict closed port policy.
The battle lasted twenty days, until the night of August 20, 2019, when Justice intervened to finally grant the ship access to the port of the Italian island of Lampedusa and disembark the 83 immigrants who had remained on board, as the rest little had been removed. for medical reasons little by little.
The acquittal of the leader of the far-right League, which has been welcomed with applause by some MPs, is due to the fact that the crimes of kidnapping people and omission of official acts for which he was accused have not been proven.
Since October 2022, Salvini has been part of the government coalition chaired by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as the conservative Forza Italia, as Vice President and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.
Source: EITB
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