Deputy Premier and Transport Minister
Matteo Salvini on Saturday said his acquittal in the Open Arms
trial in which he faced kidnapping charges for not allowing 147
migrants to disembark from an NGO-run rescue ship as part of his
closed-ports policy when he was interior minister five years ago
recognized that he had fulfilled his duty and repaid him for all
the bitterness he had endured.
The acquittal "recognizes the fact that I fulfilled my duty and
repays me for all the bitterness", Salvini, the leader of the
League party, told reporters in Rome.
Asked about a potential return as interior minister, Salvini
said: "I am fine where I am, for now".
"What I did at the interior ministry was absolutely correct.
"If someone though over the last few years: 'you can't return to
the Viminale (interior ministry) because you are on trial, you
are potentially a criminal'…this thing is over", he said.
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