(Reuters) A special tribunal has recommended that Interior Minister Matteo Salvini face trial for refusing to let 150 migrants disembark last year from a rescue ship docked in Sicily, the far-right leader said on Thursday.
The court, which reviews investigations involving government ministers, overturned a previous recommendation by prosecutors to drop the politically charged case.
“I risk between 3 and 15 years in jail for having blocked illicit migrants from coming to Italy. I am speechless,” Salvini wrote on Twitter. “I ask the Italian people: Should I continue to be the minister, exercising my rights and duties, or should I ask this or that court to (decide) immigration policy?”
Following the court move, Italy’s upper-house Senate will now be called on to decide whether Salvini can be tried.
