ROME: Italian prosecutors on Saturday requested a six-year prison sentence for Matteo Salvini, Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister, for blocking migrants from disembarking at an Italian port in 2019.

Salvini, a partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition, is on trial for alleged deprivation of liberty and abuse of office for keeping 147 migrants at sea for weeks on a ship run by the Open Arms charity.

“The prosecution has asked for former interior minister Salvini to be sentenced to six years”, Open Arms’ lawyer Arturo Salerni said, as the “long and difficult trial” nears an end. A verdict in the trial, which began in Oct 2021, could come next month, he said. Salvini would be free to appeal any decision.

Salvini was not present. Writing on Facebook ahead of the hearing, he said: “I would do it all again: defending borders from illegal migrants is not a crime”. Meloni also criticised the prosecutors.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024