Italian prosecutors have said the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini should be handed a six-year prison sentence for stopping a migrant boat from an Italian port.
Mr Salvini, a leading figure among Italy’s far-right, was accused of knowingly breaking Italian law and international conventions when he stopped the rescued migrants from disembarking.
The prosecutors in Palermo, Sicily, made the request after 147 migrants, among them 32 minors, were rescued while crossing the Mediterranean on rubber dinghies from Libya.
They were saved by a ship operated by Open Arms, a non-profit human rights campaign group.
Mr Salvini was accused of positioning himself at the center of a political crisis to promote himself.
Responding to the allegations, he said: “Six years in prison for having blocked arrivals and defended Italy and Italians? It is madness.
“Defending Italy is not a crime.”
During the incident, which took place in 2019 when Mr Salvini was serving as interior minister, he refused to assign a port of safety for the migrants to disembark there.
The ship was seized and evacuated, but prosecutors also charged Mr Salvini with kidnapping and refusal to execute acts of office.
The ship tried to disembark off the island of Lampedusa.
The first trial of a three-stage legal process is expected to finish later this year.
When the incident unfolded, Hollywood actor Richard Gere left his holiday in Tuscany to distribute aid to the refugees and speak with them.
Geri Ferrara, a prosecutor, said: “Between human rights and the protection of state sovereignty, it is human rights that must prevail in our fortunately democratic system.”
A number of high-profile figures have voiced their support for Mr Salvini, including Marine Le-Pen of France’s National Rally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will visit Italy on Monday for talks with the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
According to reports, he plans to talk to Ms Meloni about how the country is dealing with migrant crossings.
