An Italian prosecutor formally asked a court Saturday for far-right leader Matteo Salvini to stand trial for kidnapping and abuse of office for blocking a migrant ship from disembarking in August 2019.
It is the second such case relating to Salvini’s time as deputy prime minister and interior minister, when he banned all NGO rescue boats from entering Italian ports — and could see him jailed for 15 years. But the leader of the League party, who was present for the court hearing in Palermo in Sicily, was typically defiant.
“The Palermo public prosecutor’s office has requested an indictment and trial against me for kidnapping,” he tweeted, adding: “Worried? Not at all.The ship, operated by Spanish NGO Open Arms, spent days anchored off the island of Lampedusa while awaiting permission to disembark, as the situation on board deteriorated.
There were initially 147 mainly African migrants aboard, but all minors and some suffering health problems.