The Senate on Wednesday voted to
allow prosecutors to proceed against League leader Matteo
Salvini for allegedly illegally detaining a group of migrants
when he was interior minister in a previous government.
The case regards Salvini's decision to not allow more than
100 rescued migrants to disembark from the Gregoretti Coast
Guard ship for several days during a long standoff in July.
The Senate's immunity panel had already given the OK for the
Catania court of ministers' request to parliament to proceed
against Salvini for allegedly abusing his power and the floor of
the Upper House has now ratified the decision to lift Salvini's
parliamentary immunity.
Salvini, who operated a closed ports policy while interior
minister in the last government, sending the League's poll
ratings sky-high, faced prosecution before but his parliamentary
immunity was never lifted so he could go to trial in previous
similar cases.
"I'm absolutely relaxed about this and proud of what I did,"
Salvini told ANSA after the vote, which members of his party did
not take part in.
"I'll do it again as soon as I get back in government.
"I swore on the Constitution, which says that defending the
nation is every citizen's duty.
"I defended Italy".
Salvini argued that, as in other such cases, his decision was
made with the rest of the government he was then part of.
Premier Giuseppe Conte, on the other hand, said he was not
involved in the specific decision of whether to allow the
migrants to disembark.
Salvini pulled the plug on Conte's first government in August
prompting the creation of a new ruling majority.
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