Italy's deputy PM Salvini faces verdict in migrant rescue boat kidnap trial

Matteo Salvini was accused of kidnap and dereliction of duty for refusing to let a rescue boat dock in 2019.

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Judges in the Sicilian city of Palermo cleared him of two counts of kidnap and dereliction of duty, after prosecutors had sought a jail term of six years.

Salvini, who's leader of the right-wing Lega party and a government ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has always argued he was guilty only of wanting to "protect Italy".

"I have kept my promises, combating mass immigration and reducing departures, landings and deaths at sea," he told reporters outside court on Friday.

On hearing the verdict, Salvini clenched his fists in a sign of victory and hugged his girlfriend, film producer Francesca Verdini, Ansa news agency reported.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86w4ye36jno

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