Italian right-wing leader Matteo Salvini will stand trial in September for “kidnapping” migrants for his decision in 2019 as interior minister not to allow an NGO ship full of migrants to dock in an Italian port not.
Salvini’s Nationalist League (Lega) was part of a coalition government with the populist 5-star movement between 2018 and 2019. In the role, Salvini launched a crackdown on illegal migration from Africa, assisted by non-governmental cruise ships that would pick up migrants in the Mediterranean and bring them to Italy.
ITALY’S SALVINI SLAMS FRANCE FOR MIGRANT CRISIS: ‘I DO NOT TAKE LESSONS ABOUT MACRON HUMANITY AND GENEROSITY’
In this file of 12 February 2020, Matteo Salvini, the opposition leader, talks at the end of the debate in the Italian Senate about whether he can prosecute him. (AP Photo / Andrew Medichini, file)
Italy, Salvini, slander France for migrant crisis: ‘I do not take lessons from Macron’s humanity and generosity’
Salvini accused the groups of encouraging illegal migration and called on the EU to help Italy curb the flow of migrants from Libya. In the role, Salvini was one of the most prominent nationalist-populist leaders to take office after the 2015 migrant crisis that shook the continent.
As part of the fight, he refused to allow the rescue ship, which is operated by the NGO Open Arms, to continue with the 147 migrants it had in August 2019. descend. The ship may not go anywhere other than the Italian ports.
Salvini was being investigated at the time for possible kidnapping charges, and on Saturday a judge ordered him to stand trial in September. Salvini stood by his decisions while in office, saying he would go down with a ‘conscience’.
“I’m going to stand trial for defending my country?” he tweeted after the decision. “I will lift up my head, also in your name.”
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The Spanish Open Arms welcomes the decision, calling it “a reminder to Europe and the world that there are principles of individual responsibility in politics.”
While the league was removed from the governing coalition in 2019 after it collapsed when Salvini proposed a no-confidence motion, the poll indicates that it most popular party in the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.