Italian prosecutors have been accused of conducting a political witch hunt as they seek to jail Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini for six years over blocking an NGO migrant taxi ship from disembarking illegals into the country in 2019.
Prosecutor Geri Ferrara has demanded that populist League party leader Matteo Salvini should be imprisoned for six years, charging the current deputy PM and transport minister with kidnapping and refusal of official documents over his blocking of the Spanish ‘Open Arms’ ship from unloading 147 illegals into Italy in 2019 when Salvini served as Interior Minister.
Ferrara argued that the action to protect the nation’s borders was not an inherently political act but rather a failure to carry out administrative duties mandated by European Union and international regulation, broadcaster RAI reports.
“The person at sea needs to be saved, and his classification is irrelevant; migrant, member of a crew, passenger. According to the international law of the SAR convention, even a human trafficker or a terrorist must be saved and then, if necessary, justice takes its course,” the prosecutor said on Saturday in Palermo.
“It was argued that Open Arms should return the migrants to the Libyan Coast Guard… The rescue operation does not end with the mere intervention in a dangerous situation, but with the disembarkation phase: the states have the obligation to intervene and respect European regulations in terms of immigration,” Ferrara added.
In rebuttal, Giulia Bongiorno, defence attorney for the Deputy PM, asserted that the the trial is inherently political, and that it was “contradictory” to only prosecute Salvini for a policy adopted by the entire government, arguing that “there is no Salvini conduct in the dock, but a political line in the dock.”
The prosecution of Salvini has drawn condemnation from both home and abroad, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose government is in coalition with the populist politician’s League party, saying: “It is incredible that a Minister of the Italian Republic risks six years in prison for having done his job defending the borders of the nation, as required by the mandate received from the citizens.
“Transforming into a crime the duty to protect the Italian borders from illegal immigration is a very serious precedent. My total solidarity with Minister Salvini.”
Salvini’s populist allies across Europe have also raised their voice in support, including French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who said: “The trial and the 6-year sentence requested against him [Salvini] are extremely serious at a time when the migratory submersion is increasing everywhere in Europe. We are in solidarity and more than ever at your side, Matteo.”
Geert Wilders, the main power broker behind the Dutch government, which is preparing for a showdown with the EU over asylum and migration rules, described the trial as a “total disgrace” and said that Salvini “deserves a medal” for “defending his country”.
For his part, Salvini, who was not in attendance at the trial on Saturday, said on social media that his move to block the migrant taxi ship from unloading illegals into the country was merely about fulfilling the promises the government made to the voters of Italy.
“I would do everything again: the defence of the borders from illegal immigrants is not a crime,” he declared.
The Italian government has long accused open borders NGOs of assisting people smuggling networks operating along the Mediterranean and incentivising illegal migration, bringing tens of thousands of illegals to Italian shores.
Last year, the Italian Department of Security Intelligence (DIS) found that NGO migrant taxi ships were also leading to more migrant drownings at sea given that their presence and practice of picking up stranded migrants has led to traffickers intentionally providing migrants with just enough fuel halfway Mediterranean.
During Salvini’s tenure as interior minister, the populist politician blocked NGO migrant ships from docking in Italian ports, a move which happened to coincide with a decrease in migrant drownings. After Salvini left government in 2019 and the policy was ended, illegal migration into Italy began to surge again.
This trend was finally reversed this year by the coalition government between Salvini and PM Meloni, which has successfully cut illegal entries by over 60 per cent compared to last year, in part, as a result of reintroducing restrictions on migrant taxi NGO ships.
