Italian far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who faced several years in prison for blocking a ship carrying rescued migrants at sea in the Mediterranean, was acquitted in the first instance on Friday.
Matteo Salvini, 51, the leader of Lega, an anti-immigration party that is part of the ultra-conservative coalition currently in power in Rome, was accused of abuse of power and deprivation of liberty at a court in Palermo, Sicily, reports AFP.
He was on trial for blocking at sea 147 rescued individuals on the humanitarian vessel Open Arms in August 2019, when he was the Interior Minister in a previous government, refusing to allow them to disembark in Italy.
The situation lasted nearly three weeks and made headlines around the world: other EU countries offered to take in the migrants, NGOs intervened, and Hollywood actor Richard Gere self-invited himself on board in a sign of solidarity.
The migrants were eventually allowed to disembark on the Italian island of Lampedusa following a court decision.
"In the name of the Italian people (...), the Palermo Court (...) acquits Matteo Salvini of the charges against him, as the offense has not been established," stated Judge Roberto Murgia. The announcement of the acquittal was met with applause from supporters of the nationalist leader present in the courtroom, according to AFP journalists on site.
Salvini's lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, recalled in a final plea that "the Italian penal code does not punish anyone who opposes the freedom to disembark in Italy."
She denounced "the use of migrants to fight against ministers who are not to the liking of a certain part of the political opinion in Italy, implicitly resuming the recurring diatribes of her client against 'politicized judges'." Matteo Salvini received support from several foreign leaders and personalities, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, American billionaire Elon Musk, and French far-right deputy Marine Le Pen.