Germany Italy's government deputy Salvini has to go to court again
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has to stand trial once again for his crackdown on Mediterranean refugees. The public prosecutor's office has appealed against the acquittal of the former interior minister at first instance, as the authority announced.
18.07.2025, 14:24
18.07.2025, 14:25
SDA
The case will now go straight to Italy's Supreme Court in Rome. A date for the new trial has not yet been set.
As transport minister and deputy to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Salvini is one of the central figures of the right-wing three-party coalition in Rome. During his time as interior minister in a previous cabinet, he made a name for himself internationally with a tough stance against migrants. There were several disputes with German aid organizations in particular.
Public prosecutor's office has so far demanded six years in prison
Because the leader of the right-wing governing party Lega had prevented a ship carrying refugees from entering a port for weeks when he was interior minister in 2019, he had to stand trial in Sicily until December last year. The court in Palermo finally acquitted Salvini of charges of deprivation of liberty and abuse of office. The public prosecutor's office had demanded a six-year prison sentence.
At the time, the ship belonging to the Spanish organization "Open Arms" was off the island of Lampedusa with more than 160 migrants, but was not allowed to enter the port. People jumped into the water and tried to swim ashore. It was only allowed to dock after a public prosecutor ordered it to do so - against the declared will of the minister. Italy is one of the countries particularly affected by migration across the Mediterranean.
Attacks on the judiciary
Before the verdict, Salvini himself described himself as the victim of a politicized judiciary and accused it of persecuting him for political reasons. At times, his party achieved more than 30 percent in elections. However, the Lega is now well behind its larger coalition partner, Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), in the polls. The conservative Forza Italia party is also still in government.
