Italy’s deputy prime minister will not be tried for refusing to allow asylum seekers to disembark from a rescue ship last year, after the country’s senate blocked a criminal case against him.
In January, an Italian court ruled far-right League leader, Matteo Salvini, who also serves as interior minister, should be tried for the “kidnapping” of 177 asylum seekers he prevented from disembarking the Italian coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti last August.
Salvini sought immunity by arguing he acted in the interests of Italians, having previously said he was ready to be tried and was proud of “having defended the country from illegal immigrants”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Guardian reports the investigation “posed a political risk to Italy’s governing coalition as well as a personal risk to Salvini”, as one of the founding principles of his Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition partners is that politicians under investigation should be asked to resign.
“Until two years ago, this principle was written into 5-Star’s statutes as part of an attempt to distance itself from corruption in Italian politics, and Wednesday’s vote has caused rifts within the movement,” says the Guardian.
Following an online ballot of members last month in which 59% voted to protect the deputy prime minister, “5-Star leaders have justified backing Salvini’s immunity by arguing that his actions were part of government policy, saying he refused to allow the migrants to disembark until arrangements were worked out with other European Union countries”, Bloomberg says.
With the support of 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio, 232 Italian lawmakers voted on Wednesday to defend his parliamentary immunity – meaning prosecutors will, therefore, not be able to try him.
However, two 5-Star senators who said they would ignore the member ballot and vote against their coalition ally “are expected to be expelled from the movement, which would reduce the government's already slim Senate majority”, reports Euronews.
The decision to refuse entry to migrant boats and the subsequent vote to block the criminal case against the deputy prime minister has also deeply divided the public.
After years in which Italy bore the brunt of Europe’s migrant crisis, a large section of the population have praised efforts to stem the tide of people landing on its southern shores, providing the anti-immigrant nationalist League with a boost in the polls.
Seeking further political advantage, Salvini’s tough stance on immigration surfaced again this week, as he moved to block a ship carrying about 50 migrants seeking to dock in the southern port of Lampedusa.
Others, however, are horrified at what they see as a deliberately inhumane policy, claiming the far-right are using the threat of a new migrant crisis to boost their standing in the polls ahead of the European Parliamentary elections.
Far from a fresh wave of migrants arriving on the country’s shore, “an Italian-led push to disrupt smuggling networks and boost Libyan coastguard interceptions has helped to reduce the number of migrants who successfully crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Italy by around 80% last year, to about 23,000, according to the International Organization for Migration”, Reuters reports.
Despite these efforts, the IOM estimates 234 people have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year alone.
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
The Strait of Messina: a bridge too far?Talking Point Giorgia Meloni's government wants to build the world's longest suspension bridge, fulfilling the ancient Roman vision of connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Superyachts are getting caught up in spy scandalsThe Explainer China and Russia have both been accused of spying maneuvers on the open sea
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
