About five years ago Matteo Salvini Deputy Prime Minister of Italy‚ got into hot water for not letting a boat full of migrants dock. Now hes facing some serious charges.
Salvinis lawyer‚ Giulia Bongiorno‚ made her final argument in court yesterday She said her client was just doing his job protecting Italy‚ and shouldnt be found guilty. The lawyer argued that boats dont have a free pass to dock in Italy whenever they want and the Spanish charity couldve taken the migrants somewhere else if they were really worried about them.
Bongiorno told the court‚ “In August 2019 minister Salvini was fighting a battle‚ but certainly not against migrants who were taken care of and protected“ She said he was actually trying to help Italys overworked coastguards
The Open Arms charity ship picked up around 147 mostly African migrants off Libya over a two-week period. Salvini who was interior minister at the time‚ wouldnt let them dock for almost three weeks. The charity said the people on board were too tired to go all the way to Spain
Prosecutors are asking for a six-year prison sentence for Salvini They say he basically kidnapped the migrants by not letting them off the ship. But Salvini says he didnt do anything wrong and will appeal if hes found guilty
There is no right to... choose how‚ when and where to disembark migrants
Salvini has gotten a lot of support from far-right politicians across Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban even said Salvini deserves a medal for defending Europe
The case isnt over yet‚ and no date has been set for the decision. If Salvini is found guilty he says he wont quit his current job as transport minister. In Italy‚ people can appeal twice‚ so this could go on for a while
Salvini seems pretty confident‚ saying last month‚ “I am convinced I am right“ Well have to wait and see what the court decides