Open Arms, PM asks for 6 years for Salvini: "He had the obligation to provide a safe port". He: "I won't give up"

 

Requested at the end of the closing speech of the trial against the then Interior Minister, accused of kidnapping and refusal to perform an official duty: in 2019 he prevented the disembarkation of 147 migrants. Meloni: it's incredible, total solidarity with him

is being held in Palermo with Matteo Salvini accused of kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties for having prevented, in his role as Minister of the Interior, the disembarkation of 147 migrants rescued by the Spanish NGO ship in August 2019. The leader of the League was not present in the courtroom but the prosecution has requested six years of imprisonment for him.

"There is a key principle that is not debatable: between human rights and the protection of state sovereignty, human rights must prevail in our system, fortunately democratic", were the first words of deputy prosecutor Geri Ferrara during his closing speech in the bunker courtroom of Pagliarelli prison.

" The person at sea must be saved , and their classification is irrelevant: migrant, crew member, passenger. According to the international law of the SAR convention, even a human trafficker or a terrorist must be saved, then if necessary justice takes its course", added the magistrate, underlining that what is underway is not a political trial : "It is clear that there is nothing political here. Administrative acts have been carried out, the issuing of a POS is an administrative act, political acts are characterised by very specific requirements". 

"It was argued that Open Arms should return the migrants to the Libyan Coast Guard," Ferrara continued. "The rescue operation does not end with the mere intervention in a situation of danger, but with the disembarkation phase: the States have the obligation to intervene and respect European regulations in terms of immigration."

"It is incredible that a Minister of the Italian Republic risks 6 years in prison for having carried out his job defending the borders of the Nation, as required by the mandate received from the citizens". This is what the President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, wrote on X, after the request for a 6-year sentence for Minister Matteo Salvini, in the context of the Open Arms trial

"When Salvini becomes Minister of the Interior - Ferrara underlined - the decisions on the management of landings and the release of POS are moved from the Department of Civil Liberties and Immigration to the Cabinet Office of the Minister and in particular it is the Minister who decides. This is the key element". 

Furthermore, "all the officials, all the ministers, all the witnesses we have heard in this trial have said they did not know whether there were terrorists, weapons, or propaganda material on board the Open Arms. Even the references to attempts to redistribute migrants before the release of the POS cannot work: there cannot be subordination of respect for human rights and the redistribution of migrants. First the migrants are made to disembark and then they are redistributed: otherwise there is the risk of making politics out of people who are suffering". 

For the PM, "not all countries can be considered a safe haven, because not all countries have democratic rules and respect for human rights. Libya and Tunisia are not countries where a POS can be applied. The current Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi also says this, who in his testimony reported that 'the centers in Libya are certainly illegal centers, we have never handed over people to the Libyans'".

"Minors on board in violation of national and international regulations"

"The Security decrees indicated the Minister of the Interior as the only delegate to issue a place of safety - Ferrara continues - He himself is the direct interlocutor of the Juvenile Court of Palermo when he is asked to disembark minors, who instead are kept on board in violation of all possible national and international regulations. No one told us that there were potential dangers on board, so the passage of that ship cannot be considered harmless: it is wrong to do politics on the skin of people who are suffering and these measures are all in clear contrast with the international reference regulations. The President of the Republic himself had highlighted his doubts about the respect of rights in terms of immigration within the Security decrees".

Immediately after the end of the hearing and the request for sentencing, the minister telephoned his lawyer , Giulia Bongiorno, the President of the Justice Commission, to discuss the hearing. 

Six years in prison for blocking landings and defending Italy and Italians? Madness. Defending Italy is not a crime and I will not give up, not now nor ever" he then wrote on social media, posting a video in which he retraces the stages of the Open Arms affair of August 2019. From Durigon to Siri, the League's anger: "Political trial".

The defense: "The PM is trying the government's line"

The positions expressed by the PM were criticized by Salvini's defense lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno : "With this introduction, it is intuitively clear, the public prosecutor is proceeding with an indictment against the security decree bis which is an act of the government and against the political line first redistribute and then disembark. He has actually expressed a judgment of great contestation of this line, carried forward by the entire government".

For Bongiorno "it is a somewhat contradictory indictment because the premise is: we are not putting the government on trial, but the security decree bis is in contradiction with the Constitution, it is not acceptable to redistribute and then disembark and the technical table that overturned fundamental principles. He is talking about the government line, about laws and he contests them - he concludes - There is no conduct of Salvini in the dock, but a political line in the dock".

"In the Open Arms case, regardless of the anomalies in navigation and the fact that there were risks that there were terrorists on board, measures were adopted precisely to guarantee the protection of migrants. Now, rather than analyzing this aspect, I would like to point out that in this introduction it is intuitively clear that the public prosecutor is proceeding with an indictment against the Security Decree bis, which is an act of the government, against the political line of first redistribute and then disembark", said the lawyer Giulia Buongiorno, Matteo Salvini's lawyer, during a break in the hearing of the trial in which the deputy prime minister is accused.

Salvini: 'Defending the borders from illegal immigrants is not a crime'

And from the leader of the League and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure the reply arrived via social media: "Today in Palermo the public prosecutor will make its requests at the trial in which I am accused of kidnapping. I risk up to fifteen years in prison for having kept my word to the voters. I would do it all again: defending the borders from illegal immigrants is not a crime. Full speed ahead, without fear". 

Casarini: 'Trial against those who dishonor Italy'

"I only hope that today we talk about justice. Justice for the weakest, women, men and children. Justice for what is happening in the Mediterranean, with continuous shipwrecks, concentration camps in Libya. Our hope is that today a page of justice will be written . I think it is not a trial against Italy but a trial against what dishonours Italy". This is what Luca Casarini, head of mission of the NGO Mediterranea , said , present in the bunker courtroom of the Pagliarelli prison in Palermo at the hearing of the Open Arms trial of Matteo Salvini accused of kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties. 

The reactions

"It is incredible that a Minister of the Italian Republic risks 6 years in prison for having carried out his job defending the borders of the Nation, as required by the mandate received from the citizens". This is what the President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, wrote on X, after the request for a 6-year sentence for Minister Matteo Salvini, in the context of the Open Arms trial

Minister Piantedosi: "An evident and macroscopic distortion and an injustice for him and for our country"

"Full and total solidarity with Minister Salvini. The risk of a six-year prison sentence, for having fully done his duty in the fight against irregular immigration, is an evident and macroscopic distortion and an injustice for him and for our country". This was stated by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, following the request by the Palermo Prosecutor's Office for a six-year prison sentence for Minister Salvini.

The secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein: "The intervention of the President of the Council is inappropriate"

The secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein found "the intervention of the President of the Council Giorgia Meloni" on the request for the conviction of Matteo Salvini for the Open Arms affair to be "highly inappropriate ". "We believe that the executive and judicial powers are separate and autonomous. It is a principle called separation of powers" she said in Umbertide. "Therefore - Schlein maintained - institutional respect would require not commenting on open trials.

Elon Musk: “A crazy prosecutor should go to jail himself”

"That crazy prosecutor should be the one who goes to prison for 6 years". This is the solidarity post that Elon Musk does not fail to send to Matteo Salvini, after the prosecutor's closing speech in Palermo.