A ruling is expected on Friday in the trial of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who is charged with kidnapping and dereliction of duty over his refusal to allow a migrant rescue boat to dock in Italy in 2019.
Prosecutors in Sicily asked judges to sentence him to six years in prison.
Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party and a government ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said he would file an appeal if found guilty.
He responded to these accusations, repeatedly claiming that the judges were “politicians” and insisting that his only fault was his desire to “protect Italy”.
Gerry Ferrara, one of the prosecutors, told the court in September that human rights must take precedence over “the protection of state sovereignty.”
“Any person stranded at sea must be rescued, and it does not matter if they are classified as a migrant, a crew member or a passenger,” she said.
A NGO ship called Open Arms carrying 147 migrants was picked up off the Libyan coast when it was prevented from docking on the Italian island of Lampedusa on the orders of Salvini, who was interior minister at the time.
The Open Arms ship had been at sea for about three weeks, and the health condition of the migrants on board had seriously deteriorated.
Ultimately, the public prosecutor in the Sicilian city of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, ordered the ship to be seized after inspecting it and noting the “difficult situation on board.”
Salvini stressed that Giuseppe Conte's then government fully supported him in his mission to “close the ports” of Italy to NGO rescue ships.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stood alongside her deputy prime minister, saying he had “solidarity” with her and her government.
“Turning the duty to protect Italy’s borders from illegal immigration into a crime sets an extremely dangerous precedent,” she posted on X earlier this year.
She never indicated that she expected his resignation in the event of a guilty verdict, and Salvini, for his part, said that he would not step down.
In recent months, he has repeatedly referred to the trial and upcoming sentencing in his social media posts and during public speeches and interviews.
“I want to believe that Italy is a normal country, and in a normal country no one who defends the border is condemned,” he told Italian media earlier this week. If so, he added, “it would be bad news for the country and a reason to celebrate for people smugglers and enemies of Italy.”
He also claimed that the Italian judiciary was “politicized” and that some judges were “clearly following left-wing politics.”
Elie Schlein, leader of the center-left opposition Democratic Party, accused Salvini of “spreading propaganda and fueling a dangerous institutional conflict.”
The three female prosecutors in the case have been under police protection since September after being subjected to online harassment and receiving threats.
Members of Salvini's League party have rallied around him and are preparing demonstrations in support of him.
On Wednesday, MEPs attended the European Parliament session in Strasbourg wearing T-shirts reading “Guilty of defending Italy” – a slogan Salvini has used in the past.
“A conviction would be a very serious matter,” said Andrea Creppa, the association’s deputy secretary. “It would be like condemning the entire Italian people, the Italian parliament and the elected government.”
Attilio Fontana, head of the League party in Lombardy, said a guilty verdict would be “so anomalous, even from a judicial point of view, that I don't even want to think about it.”
Others outside Italy have participated in this debate as well.
Elon Musk said in a tweet on Twitter: “It is this crazy prosecutor who should go to prison for six years,” while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Salvini, described the trial as “shameful.”
If convicted, Salvini said he would appeal the ruling “to the Supreme Court of Cassation” – Italy's highest court.
This process may take months, and Salvini's position in government and parliament will not be affected.
