Italian far-right league party leader Matteo Salvini speaks to the media after consultations between President Sergio Mattarella and political parties to try to find the groundwork for a new government, in Rome, Italy, on 28 January 2021. REUTERS / Yara Nardi / Photo file
Matteo Salvini, leader of the Italian Right League party, is to be tried on kidnapping charges for his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in the country in 2019, a judge ordered on Saturday.
Salvini, who was then interior minister, left migrants stranded at sea until prosecutors ordered the confiscation of the ship and the evacuation of people on board.
The trial will begin in the Sicilian capital of Palermo on September 15.
Salvini, who has built much of his political fortune in an anti-immigration campaign, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted at the end of a tortuous three-stage lawsuit.
A final conviction could prevent him from taking over the government.
“I’m going to trial with my head held high, both in your name and in mine. Italy first, always,” Salvini tweeted immediately after sentencing. “Defending our country is the sacred duty of a citizen … that’s why I’m being prosecuted.”
During his 14 months as interior minister, Salvini stopped docking several ships in Italy in an attempt to stop the flow of migrants and regularly accused the charities that operated them of effectively encouraging the smuggling of people.
Proactiva Open Arms, the Spanish NGO that operated the migrant rescue boat at the center of the case, welcomed the judge’s ruling.
“Violating a fundamental right such as the protection of human beings at sea by propaganda propaganda is shameful,” said its founder Oscar Camps, who added that the trial would be “an opportunity to judge a period in European history.”
Salvini withdrew the League from the coalition government in the summer of 2019 in a failed attempt to activate an election when his party was at the polls.
The League, which is now part of Mario Draghi’s national unity government two months ago, has lost more than 10 voter support points, but remains the most popular party in Italy with 23%, according to the majority of opinion polls.
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