Right-wing Italian leader Matteo Salvini will be on trial for “kidnapping” migrants in September for his 2019 Interior Minister’s decision not to allow an NGO ship packed with migrants to dock in an Italian port.
Salvini’s nationalist league (Lega) was part of a coalition government between 2018 and 2019 with the 5-star populist movement. In this role, Salvini launched a crackdown on illegal migration from Africa, which was assisted by migrant ships of NGOs that will pick up migrants in the Mediterranean and then bring them to Italy.
SALVINI FROM ITALY SAYS FRANCE FOR MIGRANT CRISIS: “I DO NOT TEACH LESSONS ON MAN AND GENEROUSNESS FROM MACRON”
In this photo of the file from February 12, 2020, then the leader of the opposition, Matteo Salvini, speaks at the end of the debate in the Italian Senate on the permission to be prosecuted. (Photo AP / Andrew Medichini, file)
Salvini in Italy criticizes France for migrant crisis: “I don’t take lessons about humanity and generosity from Macron”
Salvini accused the groups of encouraging illegal migration and called on the EU to assist Italy in combating the flow of migrants from Libya. In this role, Salvini was one of the most prominent nationalist-populist leaders to take office after the 2015 migrant crisis that shook the continent.
As part of that fight, he refused to allow the rescue ship, led by the NGO Open Arms, to dock with the 147 migrants he had on board in August 2019. After a 19-day stop, the remaining migrants at board received permission to disembark. The ship was not allowed to go anywhere except Italian ports.
Salvini was under investigation at the time for possible kidnapping charges, and on Saturday a judge ordered him to stand trial in September. Salvini kept his decisions while in office and said he would be tried with a “clear conscience”.
“Will I be judged for this, because I defended my country?” posted to Twitter after the decision. “I’m going upside down, also on your behalf.”
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Open Arms, based in Spain, welcomed the decision, calling it “a reminder to Europe and the world that there are principles of individual responsibility in politics.”
While the League was removed from the ruling coalition in 2019 after collapsing when Salvini proposed a no-confidence motion, polls suggest it is the most popular party in the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.