Open Arms, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on trial at the bunker court in Palermo. «Here is the court in Palermo, ready to speak in the bunker court in the trial that puts me at risk of 15 years in prison for having, as Minister of the Interior, defended the security and borders of my country. With my head held high, proud of what I did.” Matteo Salvini wrote this on social media upon arriving at the Ucciardone bunker in Palermo, for the Open Arms trial in which he was accused of kidnapping and refusing official documents for keeping at sea, in August 2019, 147 migrants for 2 weeks, when he was Minister of the Interior at the time of the events.
Here is the court in Palermo, ready to speak in the courtroom at the trial in which I find myself risking 15 years in prison for having, as Minister of the Interior, defended the security and borders of my country.
With my head held high, proud of what I did. pic.twitter.com/WDOVnllrVO-Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) January 12, 2024
The deputy prime minister highlighted that, at the time, all interventions were shared by the entire executive. Migration policies between 2018 and 2019 “was an operation shared by the entire government”. Said Matteo Salvini continuing his spontaneous statements at the Open Arms trial in Palermo. And then, turning to the president of the school Roberto Murgia, he explained: «You will never hear me say: “Immigration policy is not my responsibility”, I did what I did with full conscience, I believe I provided a useful service for the country” . «I consciously take responsibility for what we did with results absolutely never achieved, neither before nor after, not only in terms of combating trafficking in human beings, but in terms of lives saved». «In the years 2018 and 2019, objectivity makes us say that the number of dead and missing at sea has reduced like never before or since. My objective was not only to defend national security, but also human lives”, he concludes.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
