Salvini in Palermo (Ansa / Igor Petyx)
Open Arms trial in Palermo, all witnesses admitted.
Salvini: "I'm quiet"
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23 October 2021 The hearing lasted less than two hours, but some forecasts on the hearing that sees the leader of the Lega Matteo Salvini accused of kidnapping and refusal of official documents can already be done: the one started today in Palermo will be a trial long and, contrary to the intentions of the prosecution, we will move well beyond the strictly procedural matter.
By choosing, however, without reserving the decision, to admit all the witnesses indicated by the parties, the court has in fact already written the line. On the times first of all, given that dozens of people will parade on the counter: old and new politicians, former foreign premieres, 007 and even the actor Richard Gere. But also on the direction that the discussion will end up taking.
Despite the contrary arguments illustrated by the Palermo prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi, the judges, without taking time and ruling immediately after the interventions of the parties, authorized the summons of all witnesses.
From the former Maltese prime minister Muscat, to the former head of the Aise Carta, from the journalist author of reports on Libyan concentration camps Nello Scavo, to the Hollywood actor, thus overwhelming the stakes set by the prosecutors who had tried to circumscribe the object of the trial of the landing ban of the 147 migrants rescued by the Spanish NGO Open Arms.
The accusations against Salvini move from there: from not having allowed, in August 2019, the landing of the boat in the port of Lampedusa, despite the TAR having canceled the decision of the Interior Ministry to prevent the transfer to land of refugees, women and children exhausted by the crossing of the Strait of Sicily. A line, according to the prosecutors, decided in solitude by the Minister of the Interior despite the firm opposition of the then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte - among the texts cited - who in a series of emails had invited the leader of the League to authorize the immediate disembarkation of minors aboard the Open Arms, also in light of the ship's presence at the edge of territorial waters.
According to the accusation, we should have talked about this, the charge and the accusations against Salvini. But much more will also enter the process: the risk of terrorist infiltration among migrants, for example. The senator's defense has called to depose the former head of the Aise who will have to report precisely on this. Except that, the Prosecutor points out, no reports to this effect had come from the Services regarding the Open Arms. An irrelevant testimony, therefore, like, again according to the accusation, that of Gere, who boarded the ship to understand the conditions of the refugees and who, at the request of the NGO lawyer, will have to tell what he saw.
"We have qualified witnesses who will be able to report the same things, let's avoid spectacle", tried to object the prosecutor. A line shared by Salvini, who at the end of the hearing made fun of the actor's presence in the courtroom: "Tell me how serious is a trial where Richard Gere will come from Hollywood to testify about my wickedness".
And useless for the prosecutors is also the mention of Muscat, which is protected by diplomatic immunity and therefore not subject to the obligations established for witnesses by Italian law. The former prime minister was quoted by Salvini's defense who wants to demonstrate that the Open Arms arbitrarily chose to arrive in Lampedusa despite having the possibility of docking in Malta. "Kidnapping is a crime foreseen in the event that the victim is forced to stay in one place - claims the lawyer - In this case the ship had the possibility to go to Spain or Malta and was not forced to stay in Italy," therefore the conditions for the seizure are missing ".
At the end of the hearing - the trial was postponed to December 17 - Salvini stopped with the journalists, not sparing the NGO's sinking and reiterating that he had only defended the borders of the country according to the line established by the Government. "I have not spoken to Oscar Camps, I do not take lessons from ship captains who feel above the laws - he said referring to the head of the association - There are certainly economic reasons, in Italy there are several inquiries on the money that NGOs they earn with this activity of theirs. I would not want that, beyond humanity, there was an economic interest behind the affairs of migrants ". Camps himself was present in Palermo today: "The meaning of being here today is to obtain justice. We don't do politics, we save people."