(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 21 - A court of first instance in Palermo has acquitted Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on charges of abduction and refusal to perform public acts for halting the disembarkation of 147 migrants rescued by the Spanish NGO Open Arms vessel in August 2019 as part of his closed-ports policy when he was interior minister.
    The three-judge panel ruled that Salvini had no case to answer.
    "Defending the homeland is not a crime", the deputy premier said after the sentence was read on Friday night.
    "Those who thought they could use migrants for political ends lost and will return to Spain with their hands in their pockets", he added, referring to Open Arms, whose chief Oscar Camps was a plaintiff in the trial.
    Prosecutors had requested a six-year jail term for Salvini, who was accused of illegitimately denying the disembarkation of the 147 migrants on Lampedusa for nearly three weeks as part of his controversial policy to curb irregular arrivals when he was interior minister.
    Palermo State attorneys Marzia Sabella, Gery Ferrara and Giorgia Righi contended that Salvini, in doing so, had violated national and international law, stating that he had exceeded his powers when national security was not at stake, Sabella said Friday in her final statements prior to the verdict.
    Earlier this year, the three prosecutors were given a security detail after receiving insults and threats on social media amid the high-profile trial.
    After the verdict, Premier Giorgia Meloni spoke about "unfounded charges" and wrote on social media: "Let us continue together, with tenacity and determination, to fight illegal immigration, human trafficking and to defend national sovereignty".
    Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani noted that "there is a judge in Palermo".
    Justice Minister Carlo Nordio paid "homage to these courageous magistrates" but then added that the "trial should never have started".
    "Trials like this, based on nothing, slow down the administration, I think it is necessary to reflect on our imperfect system", said Nordio, who is the architect of a proposed reform of the judiciary which includes separating the career paths of judges and prosecutors.
    Salvini also received support from far-right allies in Europe with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailing the LEague leader after the verdict and noting that "justice has been served".
    Earlier, Elon Musk, who is advising US President-elect Donald Trump, wrote on his platfrom X: "Crazy that Salvini is being tried for defending Italy".
    In the opposition, the leader of the Five-Star movement (M5S) Giuseppe Conte who was the prime minister of the cabinet led by the M5S and League party when Salvini was interior minister in 2019, said the sentence "must be respected", adding he would comment on the verdict once the motivations were published.
    He added, however, that "judges are an autonomous power" and "it's a good thing for the right to keep this in mind when they think they are right".
    Elly Schlein, the leader of the largest opposition member, the Democratic Party (PD), said "sentences must always be respected, contrary to what the right does".
    The Open Arms case started after the migrants were rescued in Libyan SAR waters by the vessel operated by the Catalan NGO.
    The crew asked Italian and Maltese authorities to be assigned a safe port for disembarkation, which was denied by both with Salvini issuing a decree banning entry into Italian waters.
    The decision was taken by the interior ministry as part of security decrees passed by the government and in agreement with the ministers of defence and transport, respectively Elisabetta Trenta and Danilo Toninelli, both members of the M5S.
    Meanwhile the Open Arms repeatedly urged the interior ministry to allow the refugees to deisembark due to the poor situation on board, expressing concern over the welfare of passengers, who included minors.
    The NGO also carried out another rescue operation during the confrontation, before appealing to Lazio's regional administrative court (TAR) which suspended Salvini's closed-ports measure and before the stalemate was ended by Luigi Patronaggio, the prosecutor of Agrigento, which has jurisdiction over Lampedusa.
    Patronaggio went on board to determine the condition of passengers and decided to seize the boat and to order that the migrants be brought ashore on August 20.
    Prosecutors indicted Salvini after the tribunal of ministers gave its green light, considering the minister's decisions as administrative and not political acts.
    The trial of first instance began on September 15, 2021 and continued with 24 hearings over three years until Friday.
    Speaking after the verdict, the head of Open Arms Oscar Camps said he was "particularly sorry for the people who were deprived of their freedom" while Salvini stressed he had "only defended the border". (ANSA).