Rome, Jan 12 (EFE).- Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, took the stand Friday in a trial over his iron-fisted immigration policies, denying the charges and arguing that he prevented the OpenAir ship carrying more than 100 migrants from disembarking in an effort to garner solidarity from Europe and protect “national security.”
Salvini is accused of kidnap and dereliction of duty for refusing for 20 days in August 2019 to allow the migrants, rescued in the central Mediterranean by the ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, to disembark in Italian ports.
The blockade caused public outcry as sanitary conditions onboard quickly worsened, including a scabies outbreak.
Finally, an administrative court of Lazio allowed the migrants to land on the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy.
The far-right leader, who was then interior minister, defended his migration doctrine on the grounds that it pursued “national security” and was shared by the entire government at the time, a coalition between his party, the League, and the populist Five Star Movement.
Before being questioned, Salvini made his plea: “You will never hear me say that migration policy is not my responsibility. What I did was in full responsibility and full awareness.”
“I protected national security – he continued – as evidenced by the fact that at least three attacks in France, Germany and Belgium are attributable to people who arrived through the island of Lampedusa. Contrary to what some people claim, there was a terrorist alert,” he added.
However, he acknowledged that “he had no information about the presence of terrorists on board” the Open Arms.
Salvini said that the authorization to disembark came shortly after the court order because “negotiations with European countries on the redistribution of refugees were already at an advanced stage.”
“It was a sort of pressure, and thanks to our action, Europe finally showed solidarity,” he said.
He also assured that the policy of “closed ports” that prevented the entrance of the Spanish humanitarian ship for 20 days was shared by the then Prime Minister and leader of the M5S, Giuseppe Conte, who later “changed his mind” regarding Open Arms.
He also quoted some statements made by the then Minister of Infrastructure, Danilo Toninelli, in which he said that “the decision of the NGO not to go to Spain is incomprehensible and suggests bad faith”.
“Unnecessary punishment”
During the trial, which began in October 2021, the members of Conte’s government who were called to testify have tried to shift the responsibility to Salvini: Conte assured that the policy of “closed ports” was part of the “propaganda” strategy of the former head of the Interior, who wanted to present him as “weak” and himself as “rigorous.”
The founder of Open Arms, Oscar Camps, said on Friday that the Italian politician’s admission that he had “used vulnerable people to put pressure on Europe” was “extremely serious.”
Camps also said that it had been proven that “it was a personal decision of (Salvini’s) to inflict this unnecessary punishment on 160 people, depriving them of the care they needed and leaving them at sea.”
At the end of the hearing, Camps said that Salvini “was seen as very feeble and weak” in the face of the prosecutors’ questions.
Salvini faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. EFE
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