Italy's Matteo Salvini defiant ahead of kidnapping court ruling

By Wladimir Pantaleone and Angelo Amante

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday he had no regrets over blocking a migrant rescue ship at sea as he awaited a verdict in his trial on charges of kidnapping those aboard the boat.

He faces up to six years in jail if found guilty. The trial judge in the Sicilian capital said a verdict should not be expected before 6 p.m. (1700 GMT).

Salvini tried to prevent the Spanish charity Open Arms from bringing 147 asylum seekers to Italy in the summer of 2019, when he was interior minister, as part of his policy to close the ports to migrant boats and curb irregular arrivals.

If convicted, he will have a right to two appeals before a final ruling that could bar him from holding office. He has vowed not to stand down if found guilty at the first instance, and has the support of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"I am absolutely proud of what I did. I kept the promises I made, I fought mass immigration and, whatever the sentence, for me today is a good day because I am proud to have defended my country," Salvini said as he entered the court.

"I would do everything I did again."

Before the panel of three judges withdrew to start their deliberations, prosecutor Marzia Sabella told the court that Salvini had exceeded his powers in refusing to let the ship dock for almost three weeks, despite the difficult conditions aboard.

"There were no national security reasons preventing disembarkation," she said.

FAR-RIGHT SUPPORT

Friday's verdict will come against a backdrop of tensions between Meloni's government and the judiciary over migration, after a court questioned the legality of her flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Albania, in cases now pending with the European Court of Justice.

Salvini has argued that he only aimed to defend national borders, and accused the charity groups of attracting migrants to Italy, thereby facilitating the human traffickers.

The Open Arms ship picked up mainly African migrants off Libya over a two-week period and then asked to dock in an Italian port. It turned down a request to sail to its home country Spain, saying those on board were too exhausted and needed immediate care.

Magistrates eventually seized the boat and ordered the migrants be brought ashore.

Defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno, who is also a senator with Salvini's League party, said the boats had no automatic right to dock in Italy and the migrants could have been taken elsewhere if the charity had been genuinely concerned for their welfare.

Well over one million migrants have reached Italy by boat from North Africa over the past 12 years, seeking a better life in Europe. This has boosted support for far-right parties, which have put curbing mass migration from Africa and the Middle East at the top of the political agenda.

Salvini has received backing from far-right allies across Europe this week, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and also from U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who is expected to have a role as an adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

"Crazy that Salvini is being tried for defending Italy!" Musk wrote on his X account on Thursday.