L’The case dates back to August 2019 off the coast of Italy. A sea rescue ship from the Spanish NGO Open Armswhich was sheltering 147 migrants, was banned from docking in Italy by a decision of the then Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The sanitary conditions on the blocked boat quickly deteriorated, with the appearance of an epidemic of scabies. After three weeks, a Sicilian judge ordered the disembarkation of the passengers in Lampedusa.
A trial is therefore underway, in particular to determine whether the responsibility for this decision should be attributed to the government of Giuseppe Conte, the then Prime Minister, or to Matteo Salvini alone. On Saturday, September 14, the prosecutors in charge of the case requested a six-year prison sentence against the latter, who is being tried for “kidnapping” and “abuse of power.”
“Judicial harassment”
In the Palermo court, the prosecutor, Calogero Ferrara, observed: “There is a key principle that cannot be disputed: between human rights and the protection of state sovereignty, it is human rights that must prevail in our legal system,” reports The WorldThe verdict is expected on October 18.
6 years in prison for blocking landings and defending Italy and Italians? Madness.
Defending Italy is not a crime and I will not give up, not now, not ever. pic.twitter.com/auWMYHBqsM
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1834995711877771339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Absent from the trial, Mr. […] Read more
