The day of the Open Arms ruling for Matteo Salvini has arrived. The judge of the Palermo court has acquitted the minister why the fact does not exist. Salvini was in the courtroom, together with his partner Francesca Verdini who held him in a long hug, and numerous leaders of the League. When the sentence was pronounced, a cry erupted applause. “Acquitted for stopping mass immigration and defending my country. The League wins, common sense wins, Italy wins“, declared the Minister of Transport on social media. There was long applause in the Chamber when work on the Budget resumed.
Salvini was accused of kidnapping and refusal of official acts by the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office had requested a 6-year prison sentence for him. In the bunker room of the Pagliarelli prison in the Sicilian capital, the minister presented himself with his lawyer Giulia Bongiorno. According to the prosecution “Border defense cannot be invoked without taking into account the protection of human life at sea“. Before the presentation of the sentence, “short replies” are expected from the prosecutors after the speech by the lawyer Bongiorno last 18 October. “If I am acquitted tomorrow it will mean that they will have recognized that I did my duty. If they condemn me I will appeal and I will continue to do my job peacefully“, declared the Minister of Transport yesterday shortly after arriving in Palermo.
The prosecutor's reply and the defense's rejoinder
At the opening of the hearing, the deputy prosecutor of Palermo Marzia Sabella, before the judges retired to the council chamber, declared that the “Matteo Salvini's defense provided a reading in the statement filed not in line with the evidentiary findings“. There is confusion, added the prosecutor referring to the speech of the lawyer Bongiorno last October 18th, “between the maximum capacity (around 300 people) and the approval capacity for services on board the Open Arms, which was instead for 19 people, i.e. the crew. Another thing is the livability of 147 people on a ship equipped for 19 people. But the Open Arms case is different from all the others. Here the ban on entry into Italian territorial waters is issued, in this case entry is authorized by judicial authorities, here a distribution agreement had taken place and there were no national security reasons that prevented disembarkation“. According to the prosecutor, these are the aspects that need to be debated and for these they confirmed the request for 6 years of imprisonment.
“Listening to the pm, the lighting of the mosaic tiles of the Monreale cathedral comes to mind. A splendid lighting that enhances the individual tiles. Be careful, however, if the single card lights up the big picture is lost“, replied the lawyer Bongiorno, underlining that “There are prosecutor's errors on disembarkation methods of minors and on the European redistribution of migrants. In this case the procedure is perfected until there is agreement on the quotas for each individual state“.
And he added: “In these flash replies of mine I maintain that as far as minors are concerned there was a list that established who could or could not come down, a list that dates back to August 6th. Furthermore, Moavero's letter disputes everything that happens up to August 14th because Open Arms was not in territorial waters“. In conclusion, the lawyer stated: “Open Arms voluntarily chose not to let the migrants off despite having more options. Open Arms found justifications for not obeying Spain's order to reach an Iberian port. Open Arms disobeyed Malta, Spain and Italy. Convicting Salvini means legitimizing the agreed deliveries of migrants at sea. This is why I insist on the acquittal of Matteo Salvini“.
The minister's statements
Oscar Camps, founder of the NGO, was also present in the courtroom this morning. Upon his arrival in court with the lawyer Giulia Bongiornothe minister declared: “I am absolutely proud of what I have done, I have kept the promises I made, I have opposed mass immigration and whatever the sentence, today is a good day for me because I am proud to have defended my country. I would do everything I did again and I walk into this room proud of my work“. Matteo Salvini's defense is based on the irrefutable fact that the ship was free to go wherever it wanted: there were several safe ports nearby and both Spain and Malta had expressed their willingness to welcome the Open Arms.
Salvini's defense
However, the commander did not want any other port than the Italian one. The standoff lasted 19 days, at the end of which the ship was disembarked in Italy, as requested. According to Salvini's defense, the ship has “loitered” in the Mediterranean with the aim of jeopardizing the “closed ports” strategy which in that period guided the policies of the Ministry of the Interior against the landings of irregular migrants.
Furthermore, the minister's defense has repeatedly underlined, the migrants on board were constantly assisted by the authorities, as demonstrated by the health emergency landings that occurred while the ship was waiting to enter Italy. Also for these reasons, Matteo Salvini's lawyer asked for acquittal for his client because “il fact does not exist“.
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