Three Tunisian migrants have been released from a detention center in Pozzallo, Sicily, after the court of Catania ruled their imprisonment was illegitimate.

They were detained in accordance with a new Italian decree requiring that asylum seekers from so-called safe countries of origin be placed in detention facilities or pay 5,000 euros after applying for international protection.

The judge in Catania ruled that in this case, the measure was in conflict with EU law and out of line with constitutional principles.

Provisions for detaining asylum seekers from so-called safe countries of origin for the duration of an accelerated asylum procedure in order to facilitate their return in the event of a negative outcome are set out in the Cutro decree, which was converted into law by Italian parliament in May.

Politicians divided

A clash followed the ruling, with the government majority slamming members of the judiciary and the interior ministry announcing plans to appeal the court's decision.

Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, commenting on the judge's motivations for the sentence on the X social media platform (formerly known as Twitter), concluded that "an in-depth reform of the judiciary is necessary".

Sara Kelany, a lawmaker in Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party who oversees migration, slammed the court's decision as "political and ideological".

"I am sorry to see that once again the law bends over to ideology," she said.

But the president of Italy's National Association of Magistrates (ANM), Giuseppe Santalucia, stressed that members of the judiciary "don't contribute to the political and government agenda" but rather implement laws.

He added that it is natural for some rulings to "go against some of the government's projects and programs".

"This must not be perceived as an interference, this is democracy," he said.

The contested ruling, issued by Catania judge Iolanda Apostolico, was defended by government opposition parties.

Members of the Radical party said it "stopped a racist escalation" and Democratic Party lawmaker Matteo Mauri called the sentence "solid".

Interior ministry will appeal

The judge's decision came just five days after the inauguration of a new center in Pozzallo, part of which -- some 80 places -- have been allocated for the detention of asylum seekers under the new decree.

It is the first center designed for this type of measure, which in general leads to repatriation.

The detention of the group of Tunisians affected by the ruling, who reached Lampedusa on September 20, was ordered by the police commissioner of Ragusa.

The case now risks putting into question recent government measures on migration, including the Cutro decree.

The interior ministry has announced that it will appeal the decision of Catania's court. Sources close to the immigration dossier have stressed that the "accelerated border procedure is one of the aspects which, already part of a European directive of 2013, finds unanimous consensus today among European countries."

After the sentence issued by Catania's court, it remains to be seen how other judges will rule in the event of new waves of migrants from countries considered safe like Tunisia (with which Italy has specific accords on repatriation).

Read more: Italy opens first center for asylum seekers from 'safe' countries