Former interior minister and
anti-migrant League party leader Matteo Salvini was placed under
investigation Thursday on suspicion of defaming Carla Rackete,
the German skipper of the migrant rescue NGO ship Sea-Watch3.
The probe follows a complaint filed by Rackete in July.
Salvini reacted to the news by saying "reported by a German
Communist, ferry woman of migrants, who rammed a finance guard
motor boat: for me this is a medal!
"I'll never give up, never".
Rackete filed her suit July 12 to close Salvini's Facebook
and Twitter accounts because they allegedly stoked hate against
her and the Sicilian prosecutor who released her after she
defied the minister's closed-ports policy, Alessandra Vella.
In the suit, which attached rape threats against her from
social media haters who allegedly responded to Salvini's
criticism, the 31-year-old German migrant rescue ship captain
argued that far-right League leader Salvini, who called her "a
rich Communist scamp who shops in Portofino", spreads hatred and
instigates people to commit crimes.
Salvini dismissed claims, notably from 5-Star Movement
(M5S) former equal opportunities cabinet secretary Vincenzo
Spadafora, that his comments on Rackete were sexist, saying he
would have said the same things about a man.
He called on Spadafora to resign "if he can't stand being
in government with dangerous male chauvinists and fascists".
The anti-establishment M5S was the League's partner in
Italy's first all-populist government, on which Salvini pulled
the plug on August 8 after 14 months in government.
Spadafora said he stood by what he said and refused to
resign.
Salvini reacted to Rackete's announced suit Thursday by
saying "the German Communist, the one who rammed the finance
guard patrol boat, has asked prosecutors to close my Facebook
and Twitter pages.
"There's no end to how ridiculous things can get. So can I
use only Instagram now??"
The city council of Paris on July 12 said Rackete and fellow
Sea-Watch3 captain Pia Klemp will receive its top prize, the
Grand Vermeil Medal, for saving migrants at sea.
The council said the award symbolised "solidarity for the
respect of human lives".
It said the two charity operators were "still being
prosecuted by Italian justice".
Rackete is under investigation for aiding and abetting
illegal immigration.
Salvini said "it's not a joke. This is someone who crushed a
police boat and now those guilty are the police? Just wait and
see if some magistrate isn't going to probe the police now?
Ramming police boats gets you prizes."
"The Paris city council obviously has nothing better to do
than to honor these individuals".
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