A political-judiciary row has erupted in Italy following a Palermo prosecutor's request for a six-year jail term for former interior minister Matteo Salvini for allegedly kidnapping 147 migrants who he stopped from landing at Lampedusa for several weeks as part of his controversial closed ports policy for migrant rescue ships five years ago. The request was made public on September 12.

Salvini said he was only defending Italian borders by keeping the migrants aboard Spanish NGO Open Arms ship as part of his hardline anti-migrant policy. He was defended by Premier Giorgia Meloni who voiced full solidarity with her colleague, now deputy premier and transport minister, and said the sentence request "sets a dangerous precedent", saying that defending Italy's borders was "not a crime". But center-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein called Meloni's implicit criticism of the judiciary "inappropriate".

Magistrates union ANM said Sunday (September 15) that insinuations that the prosecutor was guilty of practicing "political justice" were serious charges and placed unacceptable pressure on Italian judges.

Salvini was also defended by his other government ally, center-right post-Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI) leader and deputy premier and foreign minister Antonio Tajani, who said "Matteo Salvini did his duty as interior minister in order to defend legality. Asking for six years in jail for this reason seems an unreasonable choice and has no juridical basis."

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

International right-wing leaders voice support for Salvini

French rightwing leader Marine Le Pen also voiced solidarity, as did authoritarian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party. Le Pen said Salvini was the "target of judicial harassment aimed at silencing him". Orban on Monday, September 16, wrote on X that Italian Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini is "Europe's most courageous patriot" who was "punished for stopping immigration". "What is going on? Matteo Salvini is our hero", Orban wrote in the wake of a Palermo prosecutor's request.

Salvini responded to Orban's post on Monday: "Thanks Viktor, see you on Friday in the splendid city of Budapest," on the sidelines of an EU informal meeting of transport ministers on September 20. Even Elon Musk weighed in on the case Saturday night with the Tesla, Space-X and X chief saying "that crazy prosecutor should be the one going to jail for six years, this is crazy."

As the row continued to rumble on Sunday, Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa said Italian prosecutors often want to interpret rules rather than apply the law.

"I have full faith in justice, but I think that often the prosecution, in trials such as this one, lets the argument prevail that they want to entrust the prosecutor with the task of extensive interpretation of the rules," said La Russa, a heavyweight in Meloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.

La Russa is also the second highest institutional figure in Italy behind President Sergio Mattarella.

"Justice according to them (the prosecutors) should interpret the rules and correct them," he continued. "But it is not up to the judiciary to correct the rules, even when they are wrong: it can only apply the law".

Also read: Open Arms criticizes EU and Italy on migrants

Magistrates react to political attacks

Veteran former Palermo and Turin chief prosecutor Gian Carlo Caselli told Corriere della Sera on Sunday that Italian politicians don't accept being judged by the judiciary."It has become a habit, criticising a magistrate," said Caselli, who led high-profile graft and mafia cases in his long and distinguished career.

"But by doing that you create a paradox. Those who do their duty even towards a politician, probing them for crimes, end up themselves in the dock and are paradoxically accused of doing politics."

Salvini updates his book

A similar case against Salvini was dismissed by a Catania court in 2021. In this second trial, prosecutors argue that Italy's democratic norms required offering a safe port immediately. When the migrants were finally allowed to disembark following a court order, they were reportedly in dire condition, with a scurvy outbreak. Salvini, however, testified that he believed the migrants were in good health.

On Sunday, Salvini announced he had updated his April book, Controvento ("Against the Tide"), with two new chapters titled "Trial of an Italian," where he discusses the "incredible" Open Arms case. In a 13-page addition, Salvini describes the events of summer 2019, reiterating accusations against NGOs, which he and Premier Meloni have labeled "migrant taxis."

"The trial," Salvini writes, "began because of a parliamentary vote." He claims that after the League's split with the Five Star Movement (M5S), the M5S sided with the left, including former centrist premier Matteo Renzi, to "feed me to the judiciary." Salvini adds, "A minister is on trial not for stealing, but for upholding the electoral mandate with which we won the 2018 elections."

Also read: Salvini kidnapping trial: Doctor testifies that migrants on Open Arms 'in poor health'