“Not a word against the trafficking of women and men, on the other hand NGOs condemn me. Forward, head high and fearlessMatteo Salvini tweeted ahead of the resumption of his trial this Friday, December 2, 2022 in Palermo. Less than a month after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni refused to allow the Ocean Viking to enter territorial waters, Matteo Salvini, now the Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, appears in a similar case that dates back to August 2019.
Salvini was then interior minister in Guiseppe Conte’s government. L’Open handsThe ship of the Spanish NGO of the same name takes 147 migrants off the coast of Libya and heads for Italy. From its anchorage on the small island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, the ship asked to be assigned “safe harborwhere he can drop off his passengers. So far, the scenario is almost identical in all respects to the Ocean Viking case that made headlines recently. Matteo Salvini refuses to meet the ship for six days.
Important legal precedent
When asked by Le Figaro, lawyer Mé François de Cambier, who worked on the case of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, explained that Italy used “legal means. To deny entry to its ports, a country poses a threat to public order by asserting that migrants are in an illegal situation and therefore their entry into the territory must be restricted.. But international texts leave the assessment of the troubled situation to host countries», explained the lawyer. “Italy says there are no more people in distress on board as the most fragile have been taken care of and brought ashore by jets. It’s very hard to argue“.
On August 14, 2019, however, the ban was suspended by an Italian court orderOpen hands enter territorial waters after dispatching an on-site mission to ascertain the seriousness of the health condition of the persons on board. In other words, the court creates a very important precedent. in such a situation, the migrant boat cannot pose a threat to Italy’s national security. However, the confrontation with the executive continues, and the migrants will disembark until August 20.
International law theoretically binds the country responsible for the area where rescue operations are carried out in the Mediterranean (Libya:Open hands) to coordinate rescue operations and then assign the ship to “safe harbor» Where to drop off the migrants? However, several countries, for example, Libya, generally leave the calls of humanitarian ships unanswered. The latter then find themselves in a situation where they have to choose which country to go to to ask that “safe harborassigned to them. The humanitarian ships, which critics sometimes accuse of colluding with smugglers, mostly make their way to European ports.
Up to 15 years in prison for forcible detention and abuse of power
In 2020, the Senate votes to lift Matteo Salvini’s parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his trial. More than three years after the events, the former interior minister must now answer to several charges, including kidnapping and abuse of power. He faces up to 15 years in prison. At the opening of the trial on October 23, 2021, Matteo Salvini was convicted of “a political trial organized by the left“. “I think that being accused because I did my duty is nonsense“, the statesman announced.
The Italian periodical reports Espresso, for the most part such a decision is taken by the government collectively. But this time Salvini reportedly took it alone, while former Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli reportedly refused to sign the decree.
American actor Richard Gere will also be called to testify. He was resting in the area at the time of the incident in August 2019 and bought water and supplies in solidarity before boarding. The court considered that his testimony could allow the judges to better assess the health condition of the migrants who were in the colony at that time.Open hands. Matteo Salvini mocked the actor’s presence at the trial several times, specifically inviting him to welcome migrants to his villa.
In another comparable case, the justice ordered a stay of proceedings against Matteo Salvini, who was accused of refusing to accommodate the ship. Gregoretti The Italian Coast Guard, which had rescued about a hundred migrants on board. The facts also happened in the summer of 2019. The new Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has declared war on non-governmental organizations and their “pirate ships are complicit with smugglers“do”border protectionpolitical sign. Whatever the outcome, this trial is sure to be a crucial legal battle in this confrontation.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.