This Saturday, the trial of the former Italian Minister of the Interior and the leader of the Union began in Palermo. Matteo Salvini, Because in August 2019, about 100 migrants rescued by the Spanish non-governmental organization Open Arms The trial begins when the court accepts a list of testimonies from the parties.
The first hearing in the process should initially begin on September 15.However, he postponed to this Saturday to seek Faced with the great interest of the media, a bigger classroom And the existence of a large number of civil parties and lawyers. The trial began in the “bunker classroom” of the Pagliarelli prison in Palermo.
At the first hearing, the Second Chamber of the Criminal Court of the Capital of Sicily decided to admit various witnesses presented by the defense, prosecution and civil parties, and evaluated some documents.
Last sThere were more than 50 witnesses to this process, except for the former prime minister Giuseppe ConteThe current Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio, then Vice President of the Government, former Ministers Danilo Toninell (Transport) and Elisabetta Trenta (Ministry of Defense) and Open Commanders Arms, Marc Reius and Chief Mission Ana Isabel Montes Mier.
The prosecutor also asked to hear the opinion of the open arms commander in the operation, Mark Reg, And the head of the mission, Anna Isabel Montes Wednesday. actor Richard GereThose who expressed support for the work of Open Arms also appeared in court as a witness, but in the end the prosecutor concluded that he had nothing to do with the trial.
In the preliminary proceedings, the judge recognized that the municipality Palermo and Barcelona (Spain) And 21 other immigrant representatives and founders of the non-governmental organization Oscar Camps.
Salvini accused Kidnapping In August 2019, the then Italian Minister of the Interior implemented a tough policy on immigration and closure of ports, allowing approximately 100 immigrants to wait for 19 days. A port.
In those days, many immigrants were evacuated due to health problems, a battle began between the judicial authorities and Salvini, and Salvini continued to oppose the disembarkation.
Faced with this rejection, Spanish administration orders the opening of the port of Algeciras Later, Palma was used as a destination for open arms, but the NGO rejected the proposal because it believed that another five-day crossing was not feasible and insisted on stopping at Lampedusa.
Finally, the prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio of Agrigento (Sicily) responded to the request of the NGO and ordered a landing, which took place on the evening of August 20, and launched an investigation into Salvini’s abuse of power and kidnapping.
Salvini, who will appear in Palermo, has always affirmed that in those days, he “defended his country”, but also said that it was a Collective decision The entire government composed of the League and the Five-Star Movement and led by Giuseppe Conte.