Italian prosecutors have requested a six-year prison sentence for Matteo Salvini, Italy’s far-right deputy prime minister, for leaving 147 migrants at sea for weeks on a ship run by the Open Arms charity.
Salvini, a partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition, is on trial for alleged deprivation of liberty and abuse of office after blocking them from disembarking at one of the country’s ports in 2019.
Members of Open Arms have testified that the physical and mental wellbeing of people on the ship reached a crisis point as sanitary conditions onboard became dire, including a scabies outbreak. The vessel had only two toilets.
Open Arms described it at the time as an “extreme humanitarian emergency”.
Some people who were on board went as far as jumping into the sea to try to escape the vessel and reach land but were rescued by crew members.
“The prosecution has asked for former interior minister Salvini to be sentenced to six years,” Open Arms’ lawyer Arturo Salerni told AFP, as the “long and difficult trial” nears an end.
A verdict in the trial, which began in October 2021, could come next month, he said.