Italy’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini acquittal in a migrant kidnapping case, closing the door to any further appeals.
Salvini, who leads the far-right League party and serves as transport minister, was cleared last year by a Palermo court. Prosecutors had sought a six-year prison sentence. “Defending borders is not a crime,” Salvini wrote on social media platform X after the ruling.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the decision to uphold the Salvini acquittal. She said it confirmed that a minister who protects Italy’s borders is fulfilling his duties.
Salvini was charged over his decision in 2019, when he was interior minister, to block the disembarkation of more than 100 migrants. The group was kept aboard a ship operated by Spanish charity Open Arms for almost three weeks.
Prosecutors argued the move amounted to kidnapping. Magistrates later seized the vessel and ordered the migrants to be brought ashore.
The case attracted international attention and became a symbol of Salvini’s hardline policy of closing Italian ports to curb illegal migration.
In July, Palermo prosecutors took the unusual step of appealing directly to the Supreme Court. They argued that Salvini’s conduct had been established and asked judges to rule on whether it constituted a crime.
Salvini’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, said the ruling confirmed the correctness of his actions. “The decision underlined that the prosecutor’s appeal was unrealistic,” she said. “It also confirms that this trial should never have started.”
Oscar Camps, founder of Open Arms, criticised the ruling. He described it as a political decision and said it created impunity.
The Supreme Court’s verdict is final and cannot be challenged.
