Italian prosecutors have requested a six-year prison sentence for Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, for prohibiting rescued migrants from disembarking in an Italian port.
During closing arguments in Palermo, prosecutors argued that Mr Salvini was trying to promote and position himself during a political crisis when he knowingly broke Italian law and international conventions by blocking the migrants from landing.
“Six years in prison for having blocked arrivals and defended Italy and Italians? It is madness,” responded Mr Salvini, who was not present in court. “Defending Italy is not a crime.”
The 147 migrants, including 32 minors, had been rescued from rubber dinghies crossing the Mediterranean from Libya by a ship operated by Open Arms, the Spanish non-profit human rights organisation.
As interior minister at the time, Mr Salvini refused to assign a port of safety for the migrants to disembark, even when asked by Giuseppe Conte, then prime minister, whose Five-Star Movement was in a coalition with Mr Salvini’s League party.
Prosecutors ordered the ship’s seizure and evacuation, and later charged Mr Salvini with kidnapping and refusal to execute acts of office. The first trial of a three-stage judicial process is expected to finish this year.