In 2018, the then-Interior Minister prevented a group of migrants from disembarking at an Italian port.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the Italian government to compensate a group of migrants who were blocked at sea in 2018 due to the laws imposed by then-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, a far-right politician who is now Vice President.

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“In short, as a result of this decision, the government will have to compensate—with the money of honest Italian taxpayers—people who attempted to enter Italy illegally, violating the laws of the State,” said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who leads a coalition supported by Salvini.

In August 2018, Salvini prevented a group of migrants, who had been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by the Coast Guard vessel Diciotti, from disembarking at an Italian port.

The blockade lasted from August 16 to 25. For four days, Salvini refused to grant the military vessel a port to disembark the migrants. Later, after indicating the Port of Catania, he kept them in front of the dock for another six days without allowing them to disembark.

At the time, the far-right politician was governing in coalition with the Five Star Movement and enforced a strict closed-port policy against immigration, which was particularly applied to rescue NGOs. The migrants affected by the decision filed a complaint against Salvini for having “illegitimately deprived them of their personal freedom.”

Through its policies, the Italian government “directly and immediately affected the legal sphere of the complainants, causing harm to their fundamental rights, which are constitutionally protected,” the Italian Supreme Court stated.

With this ruling, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of a lower court that had denied this compensation. However, the judges did not specify the amount of the payment, which will have to be determined by the Court of Appeal in Rome.

The ruling has outraged the Italian right. While Meloni described the court’s decision as “frustrating,” Salvini called it “shameful.” Foreign Minister and leader of the conservative Forza Italia party, Antonio Tajani, also criticized the ruling: “If all irregular migrants were to request compensation, the state’s finances would collapse.”

Supreme Court President Margherita Cassano reminded that the decisions of her institution may be subject to criticism but that insults questioning the separation of powers are unacceptable.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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