Italy top court acquits deputy PM Matteo Salvini in ‘Open Arms’ case News
Kasa Fue, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Italy top court acquits deputy PM Matteo Salvini in ‘Open Arms’ case

The Italian Court of Cassation confirmed on Wednesday the acquittal of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in the Open Arms case. Since it was handed down by the court of last instance, the decision is final. It rejects the appeal presented by the Prosecutor’s Office of Palermo, which requested the annulment of the acquittal delivered at first instance in December 2024.

Salvini faced trial for charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty for refusing to allow a rescue vessel carrying migrants to dock on Italian coasts for 19 days, as part of his “closed ports” policy. Magistrates eventually seized the boat, operated by Spanish charity Open Arms, and ordered the migrants be brought ashore.

Prosecutors had argued that the actions violated maritime, international and constitutional law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Article 98, for instance, imposes an obligation to render assistance to persons in distress at sea, while the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) protects the right to personal liberty. Under the Italian constitution‘s Article 5, any deprivation of liberty must be necessary and proportionate. The prosecution had argued that there was no valid justification of a state of emergency or a matter of national security. This was now finally rejected by the court as not meeting the threshold for arbitrary detention, while being justifiable under his political discretion.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the acquittal, stating that the decision “confirms a simple and fundamental principle that a minister who defends Italy’s borders does not commit a crime, but fulfills his duties.” On Wednesday, Meloni, during an intervention before the Italian Senate, called for deputies to applaud the acquittal, saying the accusations against Salvini were unfounded.

The founder of Open Arms, Oscar Camps, demonstrated his disapproval. Camps claimed, “I believe it was not a technical decision, but a political decision.” He added that the judgment creates impunity for human rights violations.

The Open Arms case occurred back in 2019, when then-Minister of the Interior Salvini stopped the NGO’s vessel carrying 147 migrants from reaching Lampedusa, Italy. The Prosecutor’s Office had requested a six-year prison sentence against Salvini, which was rejected by the tribunal in Palermo in 2024.

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