ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors on Saturday requested a six-year prison sentence for right-wing League leader Matteo Salvin i for his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in Italy when he was interior minister in 2019. If convicted Salvini could be barred from holding government office.
The prosecutors in the city of Palermo have accused Salvini — who’s currently deputy premier and transport minister in the right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni — of alleged kidnapping for leaving a migrant rescue ship operated by charity Open Arms stranded at sea for 19 days.
During the 2019 standoff, some of the migrants threw themselves overboard in desperation as the captain pleaded for a safe, close port. The remaining 89 people onboard were eventually allowed to disembark in Lampedusa by a court order.
“I would do it all again: defending borders from illegal immigrants is not a crime,” Salvini said on his social media on Saturday.
His lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, will make her defense statement in Palermo on Oct. 18, and a first sentence could come by the end of the month. A conviction – which in Italy is definitive only at the end of a three-stage judicial process -- could bar Salvini from holding government office.
Meloni and several ministers of her government expressed solidarity with the League leader, defending his decisions. Since she stepped into power in 2022, Meloni has pledged a crackdown on migration, aiming to deter would-be refugees from paying smugglers to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.
“It is incredible that a minister of the Italian Republic risks six years in prison for doing his job defending the nation’s borders, as required by the mandate received from its citizens,” the Italian premier wrote on X.
Salvini maintained a hard line on migration in his tenure as interior minister in the first government of Premier Giuseppe Conte, from 2018-2019.
He imposed a “closed ports” policy under which Italy refused entry to charity ships that rescued migrants in distress across the Mediterranean and repeatedly accused humanitarian organizations of effectively encouraging people smuggling.
FILE - Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini attends a press conference during the G7 transportation ministers meeting in Milan, Italy, April 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's soccer players said on Monday they will boycott their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match in Libya, after being stranded overnight at Al Abraq Airport in what the team captain described as “mind games.”
Authorities in Libya, however, denied it was sabotage.
The Super Eagles are scheduled to play the second-leg tie on Tuesday. The first leg, which Nigeria won 1-0 on Friday, involved similar accusations of sabotage from the Libya team.
Team captain William Troost-Ekong said the plane had been due to land at Benghazi Airport but was diverted at the last minute to Al Abraq some 220 kilometers (136 miles) away.
“The Libyan government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason,” Troost-Ekong said on X. “They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games.”
“As the captain, together with the team, we have decided that we will not play this game,” he added.
The Libyan Football Federation said it regretted the flight diversion, adding: “It is essential to note that such incidents can occur due to routine air traffic control protocols, security checks or logistical challenges that affect international air travel,” it said on X.
Pictures posted online by the players showed some of them lying on airport seats, their luggage beside them and with no other passengers in sight. By Monday morning, some of them were asleep.
Star striker Victor Osimhen, who was not called up for the match because of a muscle injury, accused the Libyan soccer federation in an Instagram post of an “intentional tactic to weaken and ruin the morale” of Nigeria’s players.
“It’s beginning to look more like a hostage situation,” he wrote, adding: “My brothers and coaches must return home safely. We are not criminals or prisoners.”
Among the players in Nigeria’s squad are Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat trick for Atalanta in the Europa League final last season and is on the Ballon d’Or shortlist, and Victor Boniface, a striker for German champion Bayer Leverkusen.
Premier League players Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Taiwo Awoniyi and Wilfred Ndidi were also in the team that beat Libya 1-0 on Friday.
The Libyan team accused its opponent of maltreatment ahead of the first leg, an allegation the Nigerian Football Federation denied.
Libya captain Faisal Al-Badri said they were delayed “from one city to another” for three hours after their bags were searched, and before they were transported on a road trip to the city where the match was played.
“This is not the first time we have been maltreated in Africa … (and) we express the need for reciprocity,” Al-Badri had said.
Nigeria’s sports minister John Owan Enoh said he had instructed the soccer federation to send a formal complaint to the continent's soccer body. “This must be on record and thoroughly addressed,” he said in a statement.
(AP reporter Steve Douglas also contributed to this story)
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE- The Nigeria soccer team poses for a group photo before the African Cup of Nations final soccer match between Ivory Coast and Nigeria, at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
FILE - Nigeria's Ademola Lookman, left, celebrates with Nigeria's Victor Osimhen after scoring his sides first goal during the African Cup of Nations Round of 16 soccer match between Nigeria and Cameroon, at the Felix Houphouet Boigny stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)
