Italian Prosecutors Seek Six-Year Jail Term for Matteo Salvini

By Flavia Rotondi

September 14, 2024 at 11:59AM EDT

Matteo Salvini, League leader, speaks during an interview at the Senate in Rome, Italy, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Salvini accused Premier Giuseppe Conte of underestimating the threat of the coronavirus outbreak and urged the government to earmark at least 10 billion euros ($11 billion) for emergency measures to help businesses and families hit by the disease. (Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Italian prosecutors are seeking a six-year prison sentence for Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini for his role in blocking a ship carrying rescued migrants from docking in Sicily in 2019.

Prosecutors had charged Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant League party, with kidnapping for temporarily barring the Spanish NGO ship ship, Open Arms, from docking.

Salvini has reiterated over the years that he was following government policy. In an interview with daily newspaper “Libero” published on Saturday, he said that the trial was “a political responsibility of the left,” which, according to him, is seeking retribution.

In a post on Facebook before the hearing, he wrote: “I risk prison because the left wanted revenge. I would do it all again: defending the borders is not a crime.”

A verdict is expected as soon as mid-October.