The former Italian interior minister and leader of the far-right Northern League party is accused of kidnapping migrants in the Open Arms case

Matteo Salvini to stand trial for preventing the disembarkation of 147 migrants 

photo_camera AFP/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE - Matteo Salvini

Matteo Salvini has been charged by the Palermo prosecutor's office with blocking a boat belonging to the NGO Open Arms that was due to land in Sicily during the summer of 2019. The Northern League leader will stand trial for sequestering the migrants on board, nearly 150 people, for more than 20 days. "Am I really going on trial for this? For defending my country? Well, I'm going to go with my head held high. Italy first. Always," Salvini tweeted shortly after hearing the verdict of judge Lorenzo Janelli of the Palermo court. According to Italian media, the trial will begin on 15 September. Salvini also has a court case open in Catania, in southern Sicily. The case is very similar, as he is accused of blocking an Italian coast guard vessel with 131 migrants on board in July 2019. "This is more of a political decision than a judicial one," Salvini told reporters. The populist politician faces up to 15 years in prison. 

On the other hand, the Spanish NGO welcomed the judge's ruling. "Salvini to trial on charges of kidnapping and omission. We are happy for all the people we rescued in that mission and for all the vulnerable people saved so far in the sea of shame," he said on Twitter. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 20,000 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean since 2013. During 2019, the year Salvini left 147 migrants stranded at sea, one in every 33 people who tried to cross the Mediterranean died, according to IOM. However, the organisation points out that the figures do not reflect reality, as one has to take into account the "ghost boats" that have disappeared, where an estimated 413 people have died without being verified. 

AP/JAVIER FERGO  -   La embarcación Open Arms, de la ONG española Pro Activa Open Arms, en un rescate en el mar de Alborán

The case dates back to August 2019. During that summer, thousands of people tried to reach Italian shores, but Salvini, who was interior minister at the time, prevented them from doing so. The boat for which he is on trial was blocked for more than 20 days. Finally, the public prosecutor's office allowed the boat to disembark in Lampedusa, although only 83 migrants remained, the rest having been evacuated beforehand and others having jumped into the sea to swim to the coast. However, this boat is just one of many that Salvini left stranded at sea during the summer of 2019. Some organisations, such as the Italian NGO Mediterranea, defied the ex-minister's orders and landed without authorisation in the country's ports. These organisations justified their disembarkation on the grounds of the inhumane conditions faced by migrants on the boats. In contrast, Salvini accused these NGOs of being "accomplices of human traffickers". Another highly publicised case was that of Captain Carola Rackete of the German NGO Sea Watch. The captain entered the port of Lampedusa without authorisation with 40 people on board, while colliding with an Italian patrol that tried to prevent the disembarkation. Rackete spent several days under house arrest before the investigating judge released her on the grounds that she had acted correctly. 
 

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