An acquittal sentence arrived for Matteo Salvini at the end of the first degree of the Open Arms trial, which took place in the bunker room of the Pagliarelli prison in Palermo: for the judges “the fact does not exist”. The leader of the League, Minister of the Interior at the time, was not found guilty of kidnapping and refusal of official documents. The prosecutor had requested a six-year prison sentence.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini he was acquitted for the crimes of kidnapping and refusal of official documents, the accusation formulated by the public prosecutors Marzia Sabella, Geri Ferrara and Giorgia Righi. This is the sentence of the Open Arms trial, in the first instance. In the morning, arriving in the bunker room of the Pagliarelli prison in Palermo, Salvini declared: “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 enter this room proud of my work.” The Northern League leader himself had already announced that, if convicted, he would not resign from his position in the government.
In addition to Salvini, the Minister of Education was also present in the courtroom Giuseppe Valditara and the Undersecretary of Labor Claudio Durigonboth Northern League members. In the morning, the prosecutor's office had made a final intervention, to which the minister's lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, responded – a former minister who in October said that the Open Arms was “loitering” at sea. The judges (the president of the criminal section Roberto Murgia, together with Andrea Innocenti and Elisabetta Villa) had entered the chamber around eleven o'clock, announcing that it would take several hours to reach a verdict.
Why Salvini was acquitted in the Open Arms trial: the fact does not exist
The judges of the second section of the Palermo court, with this evening's sentence, acquitted Matteo Salvini of the charges of kidnapping and refusal of official documents “because the fact does not exist”. According to the reading of his lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, “It was a full acquittal, there is full proof that no crime exists. It is not a sentence against migrants, but against those who exploit migrants”.
Salvini was acquitted for the Open Arms case: the stages of the story and what happens now
The Open Arms case, what happened in 2019
The Open Arms case dates back to 2019. On August 1, the NGO ship rescued a hundred people who were on a small boat off the coast of Libya and were in danger. Then, however, the Italian government – at the time led by Giuseppe Conte and with Salvini as Minister of the Interior, therefore competent in the matter – prevented the vessel from entering national waters. Instead of going to Spain, as requested by the Italian authorities (a journey that would have been significantly longer), the ship decided to wait in international waters and continue to request authorization to dock in a safe port.
It was the period of the politics of 'closed ports', promoted above all by the League. An intervention by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court was needed on 14 August to allow the vessel access to Italian waters. And only on August 20, with the decision of the Agrigento prosecutor's office to inspect the boat and order the evacuation of the people transported, the migrants were able to disembark. Investigations against Minister Salvini began shortly afterwards, with the hypothesis of refusal of official documents and kidnapping.
The theses of the prosecution and defense and what happens now
The first instance trial lasted over a year. The sentence reached today established who was right between the accusation – who challenged Minister Salvini for the crimes already mentioned because he would not have carried out his duty as a minister and, in doing so, would have effectively kidnapped the 147 people on board the Open Arms – and the defence.
Salvini's defensive line, publicly, had focused above all on the fact that blocking the landing was a legitimate political choice, because it served to defend the Italian borders and block illegal immigration. In court, however, the minister's legal defense had tried to underline, among other things, that he was responsible for the decisions it wasn't just Salvini'sand that in any case Open Arms would have received various offers to land – in Spain, for example, or even in Italy – but would have refused.
There is no official confirmation yet, but it is already practically certain that there will be one second degree trial. As regards the political repercussions on the Meloni government, however, there will be none. At least, not directly. Even in the event of conviction, in fact, Salvini had made it clear that he would not resign.
