Italy’s deputy premier Matteo Salvini faces a potential 6-year prison sentence in migration trial

ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors have requested a six-year prison sentence for right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini for his decision to prevent more than 100 migrants from landing in Italy when he was interior minister in 2019. Palermo prosecutors 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. “I would do it all again: defending borders from illegal immigrants is not a crime,” Salvini said on his social media on Saturday.