Palermo prosecutors have lodged an appeal with Italy’s highest court against the acquittal of Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini over his 2019 decision to block a migrant rescue vessel.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Friday that it had filed a per saltum petition. This allows the case to go directly to the Court of Cassation, bypassing the standard appeals court stage.
In December, a Palermo court ruled that Salvini, who also serves as Transport Minister and leads the right-wing League party, had no case to answer. He had been accused of kidnapping and refusing to perform official duties in August 2016. The he prevented 147 migrants from disembarking from the Spanish NGO ship Open Arms for almost three weeks. The episode occurred during his tenure as interior minister, under his so-called closed-ports policy.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year jail term, arguing that Salvini exceeded his powers and breached both national and international laws. They maintained that the migrants’ prolonged stay on board the vessel was not justified by national security concerns.
State attorneys echoed those arguments, stating Salvini’s actions were not legally grounded.
Salvini, responding to news of the appeal, said he remained calm and confident.
“I went through more than 30 hearings, the court acquitted me because there was no crime,” he said. “Evidently someone is not resigned to this – let’s move on: I’m not worried.”
After the initial ruling, Salvini declared, “Defending the homeland is not a crime.”
Oscar Camps, founder of Open Arms, welcomed the prosecutors’ decision to appeal.
