Former Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, now a Senator, could be facing a criminal trial for “kidnapping illegal migrants.” This absurd charge stems from “an incident that took place in August 2019, when Salvini was serving as Interior Minister and refused to let 164 migrants disembark from a migrant transport vessel belonging to the Spanish NGO Open Arms.”
All this is going on while an estimated 11,000 migrants arrived in Italy in a single week, and the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa ran out of room to quarantine an influx of Tunisian migrants in small boats a couple days ago.
Salvini’s reponse to these ludicrous “kidnapping” accusations:
I am proud to have defended Italy: I would do it again, and I will do it again, because this July alone the landings are six times those of the same period a year ago, when the League was in government.
Let’s hope the fallout from this imbroglio awakens Italians, and other Europeans, to the urgency of voting for sensible leadership.
“Italian Senate Lifts Salvini Parliamentary Immunity over Alleged Migrant ‘Kidnapping,’” by Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart, August 1, 2020:
The Italian Senate has voted to strip populist Senator Matteo Salvini of parliamentary immunity, which could see the League leader face trial for “kidnapping” illegal migrants.
The vote was related to an incident that took place in August 2019, when Salvini was serving as Interior Minister and refused to let 164 migrants disembark from a migrant transport vessel belonging to the Spanish NGO Open Arms.
Senators voted 149 to 141 to strip Salvini of his parliamentary immunity. If Sicilian prosecutors put the League leader on trial and he is found guilty of the charges, he could face up to 15 years in prison, Il Giornale reports.
“I am proud to have defended Italy: I would do it again, and I will do it again, because this July alone the landings are six times those of the same period a year ago, when the League was in government,” Salvini said earlier this week.
“I go on, with my head held high and with a clear conscience, because I have done my duty with determination and common sense. I am not afraid, I will not be intimidated, and they will not silence me: I know that for all the parliamentarians, sooner or later, the judgment of the voters will come,” he added.
While serving as Interior Minister, Salvini pursued a policy to shut all ports to migrant transport NGOs. Italian prosecutors and German authorities had accused many of the organisations of working with people smugglers in North Africa.
An internal report from the German Joint Analysis and Strategy Centre for Illegal Migration (Gasim) stated: “In the presence of NGO ships, concerted departures from Libya were noted. According to refugees and migrants, smugglers use the tracking function on various websites to determine the location of NGO ships and contacted them in individual cases using a satellite phone.”
The Senate vote is the second time Salvini has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity this year. A previous case involved a similar incident that saw Salvini refuse to allow migrants aboard a coast guard vessel to disembark on Italians oil….
Chris says
Note to self. Never trust the Italian Senate to do smart things.
And Note to Salvini (good work trying to protect your country by the way) – next time, hire a fleet of buses and pick up the invaders from the shore and drive them to the neighborhoods of the 149 Senators who voted to support ludicrous country-harming behavior. Let them and their neighbors / supporters live first hand with their I’ll intentions.
Jaydam says
Well said +1
AnnChristine says
Matteo Salvini has more common sense in his little finger than the ridiculous Government of Italy!!!———-He just has tp get back in to Govern before Italy is tuned into an Islamic Caliphate which is what these invaders want!
mccode says
Italy is doing its utmost along with its fellow EU dhimmi states of Britain, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium to proclaim which will be the most subservient to the disaster of unfettered immigration.
Patriots such as Salvini are libeled as traitors and criminals in the eyes of the turncoats who should be prosecuted instead.
J Morgan says
I hope this gets the attention of the Italian voters and they see what a terrible situation it is with these illegal migrants – and the fight to defend great patriot Salvini.
Keith O says
So, if I read that correctly, taking measures to secure your borders from illegal entry is kidnapping?
We best hope that the American Dumocraps never hear about that little gem.
It would have the likes of Pelozi and AOC short stroking.
James Lincoln says
Keith O says,
“So, if I read that correctly, taking measures to secure your borders from illegal entry is kidnapping?”
Yes, Keith.
You read it correctly…
Keith O says
Hmmm, well the Roman empire was not brought down by a more advanced civilization, it was destroyed by the barbarians
Seems history is set to repeat itself.
gravenimage says
Italian Senate strips Salvini of immunity over alleged migrant ‘kidnapping,’ now he may face kidnapping trial
……………
Right–not allowing ravening Muslims to invade your country is “kidnapping”. What a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
Giacomo Latta says
”Senators voted 149 to 141 to strip Salvini of his parliamentary immunity.”
So you can lose your immunity if your political opinion is not that of the majority of Senators or if you exercise the power given to you via a democratic process? Is this law a remnant from the days of Mussolini? It sure smacks of it. There is nothing there to encourage a patriot to seek office.
James Lincoln says
Giacomo Latta says,
“There is nothing there to encourage a patriot to seek office.”
And therein lies the problem…
Rufolino says
Of course patriots aren’t encouraged to run for power in Italy. It’s not about patriotism !
Italian politics are based on self interest and personal rewards, it’s an exclusive club operating to the benefit of those who can get in.
Salvini appears to be a remarkable exception to the rule.
So, the entire corrupt Italian political class is lined up in front of him like a firing squad. To them, Salvini is Mata Hari.
The Italian population in general can see this. But they throw their arms up and say, “It’s always like this in Italy !”
Every so often a politician of integrity appears. But he is either seduced by corruption or he is got rid of, even shot to death if necessary. Italy is a banana republic without the bananas.
OLD GUY says
You get what you pay for. Boy is our world in trouble, if you look around the world and at the people we have elected or put in charge of our governments. The rich and so called elite love the power club they belong to. Maybe we should replace these rich idiots, I think they have inbred amongst themselves for too many generations and have lost all forms of common sense. On the other hand they don’t really give a crap about the rest of us, its all about them.