I amIn the case of the rescue of refugees with refugees off the coast of Italy in 2019, the Italian government attorney’s office has taken action against the former interior minister Matto Salvini Needed. The public prosecutor in Palermo, Sicily, after a hearing on Saturday requested a trial and punishment of a remote politician for kidnapping and abuse of power, as announced by Salvini and the Spanish non-governmental organization Open Arms. Salvini faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

The former interior minister, who was present at Palermo’s hearing, was not impressed “at all” by the prosecutor’s request. Salvini wrote on Twitter, “I am proud to protect my country.” In doing so, he “upheld the law and woke up Europe”.

In August 2019, Salvini refused entry to the port of Lampedusa for the Spanish rescue ship “Open Arms” with about a hundred migrants on board. An NGO of the same name, after the hearing, requested to convict Salvini. “Violating the rights of vulnerable people is a crime in any democratic country that respects the Constitution and international conventions,” the organization said.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled on April 17.