The trial against former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for what happened during Mission 65 in August 2019 has been definitively closed.
After four years of appeals and efforts devoted to this trial, after seeking justice, recounting the facts and providing testimony, the Italian Supreme Court has decided that no one is responsible for the hell endured by those 147 people, who were left at sea for 19 days without a safe port where they could disembark.
A trial may end, but neither our struggle nor our memory will.
On the other hand, Maurizio Belpietro, editor of the magazine Panorama in Italy, has been convicted of defamation for having described the humanitarian organizations operating at sea as “pirates” on the cover of his magazine in November 2022.
Belpietro will have to compensate Open Arms, AOI – Rete Nazionale, EMERGENCY, Sea-Watch and other NGOs involved.
Justice recognizes that solidarity is not a crime and that defamation against those who save lives has consequences.
One positive outcome and one negative one, but the message is clear: those who seek to obstruct the respect for human rights always act against life and truth.
Open Arms will continue to defend humanity in every rescue, every complaint, and every action, because saving lives is not negotiable.
