When the judges enter the courtroom, Matteo Salvini looks for his girlfriend Francesca Verdini, four benches behind him. Their eyes meet, a slight smile. "Acquitted because the fact does not exist," says the president of the court Roberto Murgia. Salvini turns, looks for his girlfriend. She is in tears, she makes her way through the crowd and reaches him: and the two let themselves go in a long embrace. The lawyer Giulia Bongiorno rejoices, she is moved.
A long round of applause from party comrades and supporters who came to Palermo to express solidarity with their leader dissolves a tension that lasted almost eight hours. That's how long it took the judges of the second section of the Palermo court to acquit Matteo Salvini of the charges of kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties "because the fact does not exist".
"Defending the homeland is not a crime," he exults. "Whoever thought they could use migrants to do politics has lost and is returning to Spain with their hands in their pockets." The story is that of the Open Arms ship which, in August 2019, was prevented by Salvini, then head of the Viminale, from entering Italian waters and disembarking 147 migrants rescued at sea. An illegitimate ban, first according to the Palermo Prosecutor's Office, then according to the Court of Ministers, which identified two crimes and a violation of domestic and international law in the politician's conduct. Six years in prison was the sentence requested by Deputy Marzia Sabella and by prosecutors Gery Ferrara and Giorgia Righi who, after the closing speech, were forced to deal with an avalanche of insults and threats on social media.
The reactions
"I am certainly curious to hear the left-wing accusers, the big professors who rage on television and in the newspapers and who until half an hour ago believed that I was a dangerous delinquent, racist, fascist," the deputy prime minister told Bruno Vespa. "I am curious to know what they will say in the face of a court ruling. I am sorry for the millions of euros that the trial brought by the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement has cost Italians. I am happy because it has been established that the League's battle to defend the borders is sacrosanct."
And if, on the day of the verdict, the Prosecutor's Office does not comment, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks of "unfounded accusations" and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani observes: "There is a judge in Palermo". Justice Minister Carlo Nordio pays "honor to these courageous magistrates", but then sinks: "This trial should not have even started. Trials like this based on nothing slow down the administration, I think a reflection on our imperfect system is necessary". Viktor Orban also rejoices from Hungary: "Well done Salvini - says the Hungarian president - justice has prevailed". The leader of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte, who at the time of the facts was leading the yellow-green government that entered into crisis precisely in the days of the Open Arms case, takes note of the sentence: "It must be respected and can be commented on when it is filed". Remembering however that "judges are an autonomous power" and "it is good that the center-right keeps this in mind when they think they are right". Even for the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein «sentences are always respected, unlike what the right does».
The story
Thus, a story that has gone beyond the confines of the courtrooms and even those of Italy ends with a full acquittal. The affair began after the rescue of 124 migrants in Libyan SAR waters by the Catalan NGO. The crew asked Italy and Malta to assign them a safe port: the first of a series of requests in this sense, but, in response, from the Island of the Knights they received a firm no and from Salvini came a decree prohibiting entry into Italian waters. A decision, that of the Viminale, taken by virtue of the so-called security decrees and in agreement with the 5 Star Ministers of Defense and Transport Elisabetta Trenta and Danilo Toninelli.
Thus began the tug of war between the then yellow-green government and Open Arms. The NGO repeatedly returned to request the assignment of the port in silence from the ministry. Meanwhile, the situation on board worsened day by day: the crew reported the precarious hygienic-sanitary conditions in which the refugees were found. Several migrants in poor health were made to disembark and for the minors, after the appeal of Open Arms, the Palermo court decided to disembark. In full conflict with Minister Salvini, the NGO carried out a third rescue at sea. Thus we arrive in mid-August when Open Arms chose the judicial route and appealed to the TAR of Lazio. The president of the administrative judges responded immediately and suspended Salvini's provision. The situation on board was now unmanageable, the executive creaked and Salvini was left alone to support the line of austerity.
The stalemate ends on August 20 when the then Agrigento prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio boards the ship to ascertain the physical and mental conditions of the refugees - some desperate people have jumped into the sea to swim to Lampedusa - and decides to seize the vessel. Salvini is investigated for kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties in conjunction with his chief of staff Matteo Piantedosi. For jurisdiction, the papers go to the Palermo prosecutors and then to the court of ministers which claims the minister's decisions are subject to review, considering them administrative and not political acts, and formulates the indictment. The trial begins on September 15, 2021, which goes on for 3 years and 24 hearings, until the sentence. "The disappointment is above all for the people who have been deprived of their freedom," comments Oscar Camps, the head of Open Arms. Salvini sees it in a completely different way: "I only defended the borders."
(Online Union)
