In 2017, three former police officers -- including two who were dismissed for disciplinary reasons and one who retired -- were working as private detail for Imi Security Service on a ship operated by Save the Children -- the Iuventa -- with rescued migrants on board.

They contacted the League, offering information and videos on what occurred on the ship with the intention of receiving advantages and a better paid, less stressful job.

The story emerged in part during the years-long trial on charges of aiding and abetting illegal immigration against crew members who worked for three NGOS -- Save the Children, Jugend Rettet and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) -- which ended with the acquittal of all defendants.

But on June 14, Palermo prosecutors spoke again about the claims during a hearing of the trial in which Matteo Salvini faces 'kidnapping' charges for illegitimately denying the disembarkation of refugees rescued by the Spanish vessel Open Arms when he was interior minister in 2019.

Also read: Poorly evaluated evidence in migrant rescue case, judge

Salvini's defence team demands time, trial adjourned to July 12

Although the investigation is nearly closed, state attorneys in Palermo have asked the court to hear the testimony of the three former officers who were originally considered as key witnesses in Trapani but whose allegations were later disavowed by a preliminary hearings judge (GUP).

Salvini's defence attorneys have asked for time to examine the state attorneys' request and the court has adjourned the trial to July 12, when the court will have to decide whether to admit as witness former Spanish minister Josep Borrell, today the EU foreign policy chief.

Hearing the testimony of the three former officers is considered fundamental by the prosecution because the episode would allegedly prove the real reason for which Salvini did not grant permission to the Spanish vessel Open Arms to dock in Lampedusa.

Prosecutors Marzia Sabella, Gery Ferrara and Giorgia Righi think the then-prime minister denied disembarkation to the 147 migrants rescued at sea in August 2019 by the Spanish NGO ship, in one of several such incidents, for political reasons.

They believe Salvini's decision was not connected to the redistribution needs of refugees nor to issues related to the assignation of a safe port but rather to a policy promoted by the League for electoral purposes which chose to attack NGOs rescuing migrants at sea as one of its fundamental points.

Also read: Italian politician Salvini enters Open Arms trial with 'head held high'

Wiretaps of ex-policemen

The fact that the three security members, according to wiretaps obtained by investigators in the Sicilian city of Trapani, accused NGOs of colluding with migrant smugglers, backing the allegations with videos they had filmed, edited and sent Salvini, proves, according to the prosecution, that Salvini wanted to use the claims against the charities for political gain.

The minister's defence lawyers have stressed that "Salvini's behavior was always transparent" and that it was his "duty to listen and publicly denounce".

The lawyers alleged that the evidence doesn't include "anything new but rather confirms the transparent and coherent behavior of the current deputy premier". They added that "Salvini's defence had actually requested to view the court documents of the Iuventa case in which serious charges were pressed, like aiding and abetting illegal immigration".

In the wiretapped conversations, the ex-officers said they had contacted Salvini and had given him evidence against the NGOs. "I have … I have all the photos if you need them, all the recordings," one officer says in the wiretap. "So, if he wants more material…What we sent Salvini, you can send it to him", said then-officer Pietro Gallo in 2017, not knowing his conversation was being recorded.

Meanwhile, another former police officer, Floriana Balestra, told an aunt she had met with the League leader and had asked him for a better job, in another tapped conversation. The minister had allegedly told her that he had contacted journalist Paolo Del Debbio so she could participate in a television program.

The tapped conversations are considered to be credible by the prosecution. However, investigators don't have direct proof of Salvini's replies to the former officers as his conversations were never tapped.

Also read: Salvini to Spanish daily, El PAÍS, 'we will stop NGO ships'