He clenches his fists in victory, hugs whoever he comes across. Matteo Salvini looks around, looking for Francesca Verdini. She is in tears, reaches him, and they let themselves go in a long embrace. Lawyer Giulia Bongiorno is moved. "You were all good," says the leader of the League.

The Palermo court acquitted him of charges of kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties in the trial for the affair of the Spanish NGO ship Open Arms.

According to the prosecution, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, in August 2019, when he held the position of Minister of the Interior, would have unlawfully prevented the crew of the Catalan vessel from disembarking 147 migrants rescued at sea in Lampedusa. For the judges, however, "the fact does not exist".

"I am happy," said Salvini, " after three years the League has won, Italy has won. Defending the Homeland is not a crime but a right. I will move forward even more determined than before." "Great satisfaction for the acquittal of Vice President and Minister Matteo Salvini in the Open Arms trial," commented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. " A judgment that shows how unfounded and surreal the accusations leveled against him were ."

"The regret - says Oscar Camps, founder of the NGO Open Arms - is above all for the people, who as we have said from the first minute, have been deprived of their freedom. We are waiting for the judges' reasons, to evaluate whether to appeal the sentence as we also hope the Public Prosecutor's Office will. With this trial, which is unique in Italian and European history, we wanted to restore dignity to the 147 people held on board and deprived of their freedom for 20 days".

(Online Union)

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