Italian Matteo Salvini was found not guilty of kidnapping in the refugee case

Rome
CNN
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Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was found not guilty in a criminal kidnapping case from August 2019, when he banned a migrant ship from docking in the country and left it stranded off the coast.

The sentencing judge said Friday that “the facts don’t exist.”

The case dates back to when Salvini was interior minister in 2019. He had banned the Spanish-flagged NGO lifeboat Open Arms from docking in Sicily with 147 asylum seekers, leaving the migrants at sea in sweltering conditions for 19 days before a Sicilian court intervened and ruled they could be brought ashore .

Children and vulnerable people on board were airlifted to safety throughout the ordeal.

At the time, Salvini cited national security concerns over the government’s efforts to crack down on irregular immigration by sea to Italy.

In a statement released by her office, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “great satisfaction” over Salvini’s acquittal. “A verdict that shows how baseless and surreal the allegations against him were,” Meloni said in a statement released by her office on Friday.

The case gained international attention after American actor Richard Gere, who was vacationing in Italy at the time, brought food and water to the stranded refugee ship. Gere was also named as a witness, but did not testify in person or in writing after objections from Salvini’s defense, led by Giulia Bongiorno, also a member of Salvini’s Lega party.

On Thursday, Elon Musk posted on X that it was “crazy” that Salvini was being tried for “defending Italy.”

Salvini replied: “Thank you for your solidarity, @elonmusk. Defending Italy’s borders was my duty and I am proud of what I have achieved. Whether I am convicted or acquitted, our fight for FREEDOM and SECURITY in Italy and Europe will continue.” Musk responded: “You did the right thing.”

Before almost eight hours of deliberations, prosecutor Marzia Sabella told the court that Salvini had exceeded his authority IInterior Minister. “There were no national security reasons preventing disembarkation,” she told the jury.

Salvini spoke to reporters outside the courthouse in Palermo before the final hearing. “I am absolutely proud of what I have done. “I kept the promises I made, I fought against mass immigration, and whatever the verdict, today is a good day for me because I am proud to have defended my country,” he said adding, “I would do everything I did again.”

The ruling comes as Meloni’s government fights to send migrants to Albania for processing, a plan that has been blocked by the judiciary. The legality of the Albanian centers, which cost the Italian taxpayer millions of euros, must now be examined by the European Court of Justice.