The Palermo court acquitted League leader Matteo Salvini on Friday evening of charges of kidnapping and refusal to perform official documents at the trial in the affair of the ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms. At 7.40pm the sentence was pronounced in the bunker room of the Pigliarelli prison in Palermo. After eight hours of deliberation, the court panel chaired by Roberto Murgia concluded: “The fact does not exist”.
The deputy prime minister was accused of having prevented – according to the accusation – 147 migrants from disembarking from the Spanish NGO's ship five years ago, forcing them to remain on board for 19 days. The Prosecutor's Office had requested a 6-year prison sentence for Salvini.
The reading of the device was greeted by applause from politicians and supporters who came to express solidarity with the minister who has, for a long time, embraced his girlfriend Francesca Verdini.
The story that brought the Northern League politician to trial began in August 2019, with the rescue of 124 migrants in Libyan waters by the Spanish NGO Open Arms. After the rescue, the crew of the vessel requests the assignment of a safe port to Italy and Malta: it is the first of a series of requests to this effect, but, in response, they receive a ban on entry into Italian waters from The then Interior Minister Salvini moved in agreement with his 5 Star colleagues in Defense and Transport.
Start the tug-of-war with Open Arms. Two refugees and one of their relatives, in the meantime, are disembarked for health reasons. 121 remained on the ship. On August 9, the NGO's lawyers appealed to the juvenile court requesting the disembarkation of the migrants who were not yet adults and presented the first complaint. A few hours later they rescue another group of people on a damaged piece of wood: this time there are 39 of them.
On 12 August the Palermo court orders the disembarkation of the minors. Meanwhile, the ship sails towards Lampedusa and continues to ask Malta and Italy for the assignment of a safe port. Against the repeated “no” from the Interior Ministry, the NGO appeals to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court. The president of the college on the eve of August 15th suspends the entry ban.
After two days, Open Arms presents a complaint to the Agrigento Prosecutor's Office claiming that, despite the administrative judge's decision, Salvini continues to deny entry into Italian waters. In the meantime, the situation on board is unmanageable: the migrants, who have been in precarious health and hygiene conditions for 18 days, are exhausted. Some, seeing the Italian coasts, try to swim to Lampedusa by throwing themselves into the sea.
On August 20, when tension was now very high, the then prosecutor of Agrigento Luigi Patronaggio boarded the ship to ascertain the physical and mental conditions of the migrants. It is he who speaks of an “explosive situation” and seizes the vessel, overcoming the stalemate. On board, of the initial 164 rescued in Libyan SAR waters, after transfers for medical reasons, 88 remained.
The Agrigento Public Prosecutor's Office starts investigations. The outcome of the investigations and the identification of responsibility in Minister Salvini require the Northern League leader to be registered in the register of suspects for kidnapping and refusal of official documents in collaboration with his head of Cabinet Matteo Piantedosi. For jurisdiction, the papers are sent to the prosecutors of Palermo – the capital is home to the court of ministers – who then formulates the accusation for Salvini while filing for Piantedosi. On February 1, 2020, the college sends the documents to the Senate for authorization to proceed. Palazzo Madama, unlike what happened in the twin case of the Navy ship Diciotti, which was also prevented from disembarking, this time says yes. On 17 April 2021, the preliminary hearing judge Lorenzo Jannelli ordered the indictment. The trial begins on September 15, 2021. A debate that went on for over three years and 24 hearings, during which, among others, the former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte testified.
