A court in Milan suspended the defamation trial against League leader and former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday (June 23).

Salvini is accused of aggravated defamation against Carola Rackete, the former skipper of migrant-rescue ship Sea-Watch 3. The far-right party head had made insulting comments about the German activist on Twitter and Facebook Live in June and July 2019, including calling her "that poser of a skipper", "German criminal" and "rich and spoilt communist."

Judge Maria Burza decided to halt the trial so that the Senate can evaluate whether the statements Salvini made were legitimate political speech and covered by parliamentary privilege. She followed a request made by Salvini's lawyer, Claudia Eccher.

Eccher had argued that Salvini's statements were part of a "political message" expressed by him as a senator. Eccher said the "language of the League and of new parties like the Five-Star [Movement]" is characterized by a "clear and direct manner of speaking."

Hate speech or political message?

Salvini has been a member of the Italian senate since 2018. At the time he made the comments, he was also part of the Italian government -- he served as interior minister from June 2018 to September 2019.

The public prosecutor had argued that Salvini's statements were not subject to parliamentary privilege. During the hearing, prosecutor Giancarla Serafini said that Salvini's comments had "nothing to do with political speech" and were instead "true attacks against a person, her dignity" and "a direct aggression" against Rackete.

Previously, the court had rejected a request for an immediate acquittal by Salvini's team, rejecting the claim that the statements could categorically not be prosecuted.

Rackete: 'I expect the trial to continue'

Carola Rackete and her lawyer expressed disappointment following the court's decision to halt the case.

"I think that people who hold important political positions must bear responsibility for their behaviour and that's why I expect the trial to continue," Rackete told German news agency dpa.

"We express our radical disagreement over this decision, because those statements had nothing to do with Matteo Salvini's role as a member of parliament, both for the tone used and for what he said", attorney Alessandro Gamberini, who represents Rackete, said.

Salvo Tesoriero, the German activist's second attorney, said that Salvini's comments were "hate speech made by someone exploiting his role."

Carola Rackete and the 2019 Lampedusa landing

In June 2019, Carola Rackete and her Sea-Watch crew made international headlines when they docked on the Italian island of Lampedusa to disembark a group of rescued migrants against the directives of Italian authorities. At the time, Matteo Salvini -- then interior minister -- was pursuing a strict anti-migration 'closed ports' policy.

Rackete was then briefly arrested and put under house arrest. All charges against Rackete (including aiding illegal migration) were later dropped, as judicial officials found that Rackete "acted in compliance with the duty to rescue". This followed several court rulings that sided with Rackete -- among them a decision by the high court which found that Rackete should not have been arrested.