Italy’s far-right league leader Matteo Salvini speaks to the media after consultation between President Sergio Mattarella and political parties to try to find the basis for a new government, on 28 January 2021 in Rome, Italy. REUTERS / Yara Nardi / File Photo
Matteo Salvini, leader of the Italian right-wing league party, must stand trial on charges of kidnapping over his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in the country in 2019, a judge ordered on Saturday.
Salvini, who was home affairs minister at the time, left the migrants on the beach until prosecutors ordered the ship to be seized and the people on board evacuated.
The trial is set to begin on September 15 in the Sicilian capital, Palermo.
Salvini, who has built up much of his political fortune on an anti-immigration campaign, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted at the end of a tortuous three-stage judicial process.
A final conviction could prevent him from joining the government office.
“I’m going to trial with my head held high, in your name as well as mine. Italy first, always,” Salvini tweeted immediately after the verdict. “The defense of our country is a citizen’s sacred duty … for that I am being tried.”
During his fourteen months as Home Secretary, Salvini prevented several boats from docking in Italy in an effort to stop migration flows, and he regularly accused the charities they run of smuggling people.
Proactiva Open Arms, the Spanish NGO that operated the tow rescue ship at the heart of the case, welcomed the judge’s ruling.
“The violation of a fundamental right such as the protection of people at sea for the sake of political propaganda is shameful,” said the founder, Oscar Camps, adding that the trial would be an opportunity for a period of European to assess history. ‘
Salvini withdrew from the league in the summer of 2019 from the coalition government in a failed attempt to cause an election when his party ran high in the polls.
The league, which is now part of Mario Draghi’s two-month-old national unity government, has lost more than ten points of voter support, according to most polls, but is still the most popular party in Italy at around 23%.
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