(ANSA) - MILAN, MAY 17 - A preliminary investigations judge on Monday dropped charges of instigation to commit crimes against far-right League leader and former interior minister Matteo Salvini for allegedly urging violence against German migrant rescue ship captain Carola Rackete by calling her a criminal who had tried to kill Italian police by ramming their boat in defiance of Salvini's closed ports policy.
Rackete received death and rape threats on social media following Salvini's charges.
But a separate defamation case against Salvini for his statements against the former Sea Watch 3 commander, whom he also said was in league with migrant traffickers, is going forward.
Rackete, 33, sued Salvini, 48, for his allegedly defamatory statements about her., (ANSA).