Matteo Salvini: Right-Wing Italian Politician In Court For Blocking Migrant Boats.
Written byTimes Magazine
Key Sentence:
- Italy's former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has been on trial in Sicily for preventing a migrant boat from docking in August 2019.
- Right-wing politicians deny kidnappings and official charge violations.
The witness for the prosecution was Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who was on board. For three weeks, Mr. Salvini closed the port to lifeboats and left dozens of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean stranded aboard a Spanish rescue ship in deteriorating conditions.
If found guilty, faces a maximum prison sentence from 15 years.
On the day of the trial, the judge allowed all witnesses represented by both parties to testify. This includes former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and members of his cabinet.
However, the defendant made fun of Pak Gere's presence.
"I want to know if Richard Gere of Hollywood will testify about my behavior in court," he said in court. Gere had boarded the Spanish ship Open Arms before docking at sea 19 days later on the island of Lampedusa with nearly 150 migrants on board. Salvini defended his government's "closed ports" policy to prevent migrants from dangerously crossing the Mediterranean.
The blockade of his ships sparked violent reactions and bitter divisions in the coalition government at the time. His league party coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star, but he is now an opposition parliament member.
In July last year, the Senate voted to lift his parliamentary immunity. Conte called Salvini "obsessed" with keeping migrants out of Italian ports. In 2019, the charity Open Arms filed a lawsuit against Mr. Salvini's block on their ship, which expired on August 20. A media signature, Mr. Salvini defended his actions in the Senate last year.
By then, many of the migrants had already been released from the ship. On Saturday, the charity's founder Oscar Kemps told reporters outside the court that saving lives should not be politicized. "Saving people at sea is not a crime; it's an obligation not just for the captain, but for all states," he said.
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