Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has been acquitted of kidnapping charges related to blocking a migrant rescue boat in 2019. The court rejected the prosecutor’s call for a six-year prison term after a three-year trial. Salvini, leader of the League party, faced criticism for his hardline migration stance during his time as interior minister.
The verdict comes amid heightened tensions between Italy’s government and judiciary over migration policies, including a controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Albania, now under review by the European Court of Justice.
League party members applauded the decision, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the allegations as “unfounded and surreal.”
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