Foreign minister Antonio Tajani voiced solidarity with deputy premier and transport minister Matteo Salvini after prosecutors said Friday they had lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against his acquittal of charges of kidnapping over 100 migrants for nearly three weeks aboard a boat operated by Spanish charity Open Arms.
"We have always said that in the case of acquittal verdicts, the public prosecution should not file an appeal," Tajani wrote on X.
"In the case of #OpenArms, it is a relentless attack against a Minister of the Republic who did his duty. @matteosalvinimi , I stand in solidarity with you," the post underlined.
A court acquitted Salvini in December of charges of kidnapping over 100 asylum-seekers aboard the Open Arms boat he had blocked at sea for nearly three weeks in August 2019, as part of a policy to curb migration.
After a trial that lasted three years, judges rejected a prosecutor's request to hand a six-year jail term to Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, which is part of Italy's conservative coalition government.
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