Italian court clears Vice Premier Salvini of illegally detaining migrants on a rescue ship in 2019

Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A court in Sicily Friday found Italian Vice Premier Matteo Salvini not guilty of illegally detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship iin 2019 when he was interior minister. The court in Palermo dropped all the charges against Salvini in relation to an incident in which he refused to allow migrants to leave the Open Arms rescue ship at Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa. Verdicts in Italy are only considered final once all appeals are exhausted, a process that can take years. Now transport minister in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government, Salvini has always defended himself, saying he acted to protect Italy’s borders.