ROME – A judge in Sicily on Saturday began weighing whether to put former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on trial for having refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people at sea for days.
Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, was on hand for the preliminary hearing in the bunker courtroom of the Palermo tribunal.
He tweeted that he was certain he did the right thing under Italian law, “defending the security and dignity of Italy” by refusing entry to the Open Arms rescue ship.
The judge for the preliminary hearing, Lorenzo Iannelli, is deciding whether to put Salvini on trial or archive the case. Palermo prosecutors have accused Salvini of kidnapping, for having kept the