MILAN — Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, remains resolute as he anticipates the verdict in Sicily regarding his actions in 2019, when he prevented around 100 migrants from disembarking from a humanitarian rescue vessel during his tenure as interior minister.
Salvini, the leader of the Euroskeptic and anti-migrant League party, expressed during a recent rally that “protecting our borders, dignity, and laws is never a crime.”
He plans to attend the court session in Palermo confidently, prepared to hear whether he will be found guilty of unlawfully detaining migrants aboard the Open Arms rescue ship. This incident occurred when he kept the ship and its passengers waiting for five days near Lampedusa. He also faces accusations of neglecting his obligations as a public official.
Prosecutors have proposed a six-year prison sentence; any punishment exceeding five years would bar him from holding office. However, a final ruling will not be immediate, as verdicts in Italy can only become definitive once they pass through two appeal levels—a process that is often lengthy.
The situation unfolded when the Open Arms approached Italy carrying 150 migrants rescued at sea, some of whom were in the Maltese rescue area, with Lampedusa being the nearest port. They remained in international waters for ten days, and then hovered near Lampedusa for another five, as conditions on board deteriorated and tensions increased. Some migrants resorted to jumping overboard, and minors were evacuated amid the crisis.
Ultimately, a court mandated that the remaining 89 individuals on board be allowed to disembark in Lampedusa.
Arturo Salerni, the Italian lawyer for Open Arms, rebuffed Salvini’s assertion that he was safeguarding Italy’s borders, stating that it was his fundamental duty as a public official to protect the human rights of those on the vessel.
“The foremost responsibility, especially for those in government, is to uphold international laws and conventions, and to protect human rights,” Salerni remarked, as he represents Open Arms as an injured party in the proceedings. “It cannot be that the interior minister is allowed to strip anyone of their freedom.”
The Open Arms incident marks just one of over 20 notable standoffs during Salvini’s strict immigration policies while serving as interior minister from 2018 to 2019 under then-Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. He implemented measures that closed Italian ports to humanitarian rescue ships and claimed that organizations rescuing migrants effectively facilitated smuggling operations.
Another significant event occurred in June 2019 when German captain Carola Rackete defied Salvini’s orders by entering Lampedusa harbor after declaring a state of emergency aboard her vessel, Sea-Watch 3, which had been transporting 40 rescued individuals for 16 days. Rackete was subsequently arrested, but Italy eventually dismissed charges against her for aiding illegal immigration.
Currently serving as the transport minister in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right administration, Salvini enjoys the backing of Meloni and other governmental leaders during the Palermo trial.
Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has intensified efforts to curb migration, establishing agreements with North African countries to limit departures while planning migrant assessment centers in Albania, designed to screen asylum seekers outside of Italy.
“Salvini has the full support of the government,” Meloni remarked to the Italian Senate on Wednesday, receiving enthusiastic approval from right-wing lawmakers present.
