The Diciotti, Gregoretti and Open Arms Cases — Salvini on Trial
Three ships. Three investigations. One acquittal, two dropped cases. Salvini called it defending Italy. The courts called it kidnapping — and then let him go.
Between 2018 and 2019, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini systematically blocked rescue ships from docking in Italian ports, leaving people rescued at sea stranded on vessels for days and weeks at a time. Three cases led to criminal investigations and trials — each one a test of whether a government minister could be held legally accountable for using people in distress as political leverage.
The Diciotti (August 2018)
On 15 August 2018, the Italian coastguard vessel Diciotti rescued 190 people from an overloaded boat off Lampedusa. After four days at sea while Italy and Malta debated where the ship could dock, Salvini refused to allow disembarkation unless other EU states agreed to take the migrants. 27 unaccompanied minors were eventually allowed ashore; 150 people remained on board until 26 August, when the Catholic Church brokered a deal with Ireland and Albania to accept them. Prosecutors in Catania opened an investigation into abuse of authority and kidnapping.
The Italian Senate voted to block the prosecution — granting Salvini parliamentary immunity. The case was dropped.
The Gregoretti (July 2019)
In July 2019, Salvini blocked 131 people — including 15 unaccompanied children — from disembarking from the coastguard vessel Gregoretti in Sicily for five days. He again waited for EU states to agree to redistribute those on board. Prosecutors charged him with kidnapping. The prosecutor in Catania ultimately recommended against trial, arguing the decision did not violate international law and that the Gregoretti, as a coastguard vessel, constituted a place of safety where people received medical care. The case was dropped.
The Open Arms (August 2019)
In August 2019, Salvini refused to allow the Spanish NGO vessel Open Arms — carrying 147 people including 15 unaccompanied minors — to dock in Sicily. The standoff lasted 19 days. During this time, some migrants threw themselves overboard in desperation. Eventually a court overturned Salvini's ban and the remaining 83 people were allowed to disembark in Lampedusa.
This case went to trial in Palermo. Salvini was charged with kidnapping and abuse of office. The Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office called for his conviction. Salvini was acquitted. The prosecution subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The political logic
Salvini made no secret of his strategy. Each standoff was publicly performed — livestreamed, tweeted, framed as "defending Italy." The criminal charges he faced he wore as badges of honour: "I'm going on trial for this, for having defended my country? I'll go with my head held high."
What the cases collectively revealed was the impunity available to those in power. The same legal system that investigated NGO rescue workers for years — and seized the Iuventa — dropped or acquitted the minister who had deliberately left hundreds of people stranded at sea.
The Salvini trial
Echos , January 4, 2025
After three years of proceedings, involving 24 hearings and the testimony of 45 witnesses, the trial of Matteo Salvini in Palermo, for his role in the Open Arms case, reached its conclusion on December 20. The sentencing took place at 9:30 a.m. at the court located in the “Pagliarelli” prison in Palermo. The trial ended with the verdict acquitting the defendant Matteo Salvini because the fact does not exist.
Salvini, the former interior minister and current transport minister, faces charges of kidnapping and neglect of duty for his actions in August 2019. He has been accused of preventing the disembarkation of 147 people, including minors, who had been rescued at sea by the NGO Open Arms during three separate rescue operations. For 19 days, the ship was kept at sea without permission to dock, despite the urgent medical needs of those on board.
The case stems from Mission 65, when Open Arms conducted three rescues in the Mediterranean, saving people in dire condition. Despite these efforts, the ship was denied access to Italian ports, leaving those on board stranded at sea.
During a hearing on September 14, 2024, prosecutors from the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a six-year prison sentence for Salvini, in addition to other penalties. At the time of the incident, Salvini was serving as Italy’s interior minister, overseeing the country’s policies on migration. The charges relate to his role in preventing the safe disembarkation of migrants aboard the Open Arms ship during the 2019 crisis.
The investigation began in November 2019, following a request by the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office based on information gathered by the Agrigento Public Prosecutor’s Office. It focused on various criminal charges related to the August 2019 events, when the Open Arms ship arrived off the coast of Lampedusa with migrants aboard. The Palermo prosecutors have argued that Salvini acted with intentional disregard for both international law and the personal freedoms of the individuals involved, thus committing the crimes of kidnapping and refusal to perform official duties.
This trial is notable as it is the first time a sitting minister has faced criminal charges for actions taken in the exercise of his office. The Palermo prosecutors have sought to affirm Salvini’s criminal responsibility, arguing that his actions knowingly violated the rights of the 147 migrants.
In addition to the actions of the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office, other institutions have weighed in on the case: The Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) of Lazio ruled in August 2019 to suspend the government ban on Open Arms’ entry into Italian waters. The Agrigento Public Prosecutor’s Office had ordered the seizure of the ship, and the Palermo Tribunal of Ministers conducted the investigation and sought permission to proceed with charges against Salvini. The Senate of the Republic authorized the trial, and the Palermo judge ordered Salvini to stand trial.
Our goal was never to seek condemnation, but to ensure the truth about what happened during that mission came to light. For that reason, we are very satisfied with the way things have unfolded.
Open Arms
On 17 December 2025, the Supreme Court of Cassation rejected the appeal filed by the Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office and rendered the acquittal final. The prosecutors had argued that the first-instance ruling was based on a flawed interpretation of international maritime law, in particular Italy's obligation to assign a place of safety to the Open Arms. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had the Senate applaud the acquittal, declaring that a minister who defends Italy's borders commits no crime but fulfils his duty. Open Arms called it a political rather than a judicial decision: once again, no justice had been delivered, but impunity created. The proceedings are now definitively closed: no Italian court has held Salvini accountable for the blockade of the Open Arms.
Sources
Open Arms
Al Jazeera, Oktober 2020: "Italy's Salvini goes on trial, accused of 'kidnapping' refugees"
DW, April 2021: "Italy: Matteo Salvini faces trial on kidnapping charge"
InfoMigrants: "The Salvini–Open Arms case timeline: From the rescue op to the ruling"