A special court in Sicily on Thursday requested permission to begin legal proceedings against interior minister Matteo Salvini over 177 rescued migrants who were stuck at sea for 10 days in August when he refused to allow them ashore at the port of Catania, interior ministry sources said.
The Catania special court, which judges crimes allegedly committed by Italian prime ministers and cabinet members, rejected a request by local prosecutors to archive the case against Salvini said the interior ministry sources. Salvini is also deputy premier.
In the case, Italian coastguard ship Diciotti picked up 190 migrants off Lampedusa in mid-August after they were refused entry to Malta, and 13 of the rescued migrants were taken to Lampedusa due to serious medical conditions.
The remaining 177 people were stranded in international waters for five days and spent a further five days aboard the Diciotti at Catania's port after Salvini stopped the migrants disembarking unless other states agreed to take them in.
The standoff came to an end when Italy's Catholic Church, Ireland and Albania agreed to shelter most of the migrants.
Upon taking office in June last year, Salvini closed Italy's boards to migrant rescue ships and vowed to deport half a million illegal immigrants from the country, where over 700,000 have arrived since 2014.
