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POLITICS

Italy’s Senate has voted to send Salvini to trial. What happens now?

The Italian Senate has stripped League party leader Matteo Salvini of his parliamentary immunity, opening the way for a potentially career-derailing trial over alleged abuse of power and illegally detaining migrant while he was a government minister.

Italy's Senate has voted to send Salvini to trial. What happens now?
Matteo Salvini at the Senate hearing on removing his parliamentary immunity on February 12. Photo: AFP

The charges could see Salvini, a senator, serve up to 15 years in jail. 

Here's a look at what happens next.

Will he now face trial?

Salvini, 46, is not heading straight for the docks. It was a court in Catania in Sicily that asked the Senate to green-light a trial against him for using his power as interior minister to block over 110 rescued migrants at sea for days.

In doing so, the court overruled the Catania prosecutor in charge of the initial investigation, who had requested the case be dropped. The Senate will now send the dossier back to that prosecutor's office, obliging it to go forward with the case.

The prosecutor is expected to appeal once more for the case to be shelved, and a judge will have the final say. Should the official go-ahead be given, Salvini will be tried by a Catania court in the first instance. 

In Italy, most cases then go to appeal, before winding up at Italy's highest court in Rome for a definitive verdict.

Salvini at the February 12 Senate hearing on removing his parliamentary immunity. Photo: AFP

Is his career at stake?

Salvini is currently in opposition, but is determined to become prime minister and his anti-immigrant party is currently expected to do very well at the next elections. A conviction, however, could throw a serious spanner in the works.

Under Italian law, members of parliament ordered to serve a prison sentence of two or more years are ousted from the halls of power and unable to run in elections for up to eight years.

READ ALSO: Political cheat sheet: Understanding Italy's League

The law is less clear on what happens after a conviction in the first instance, before all appeals have been exhausted.

In theory, the Senate could suspend Salvini from the upper house for 18 months, but it would be an unprecedented move.

Is he really facing prison?

Overcrowding in Italian jails means those given sentences of fewer than two years are usually placed under house arrest or ordered to serve community service instead.

The Italian justice system is also notoriously slow, with the average criminal trial — appeals included — lasting some four years and four months, according to media reports.

Those unlucky enough to be tried in the south of the country sometimes see it drag on for over six years.

READ ALSO: Anger over plans for Italy's Salvini to speak at events in the UK

Will his 'martyr strategy' work?

“It's already clear (Salvini) intends to use the accusations against him by presenting himself a victim of 'political justice',” writes Massimo Franco, the editor of the Corriere della Sera, Italy's biggest-selling daily.

La Stampa daily agrees, saying Salvini has gone with “the martyr strategy”.

But will that boost his popularity further?

While he may see some short-term gain, political analysts warn that in the long term Italians could tire of it — as they did with Salvini's right-wing ally, ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who spent years vociferously accusing Italy's judges of persecuting him at various trials.

Salvini (R) with ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2018. Photo: AFP

What else can we expect?

Salvini has complained about evenings spent doing defence prep, but much more strategy-plotting by candlelight awaits.

A special Senate committee is set to rule February 27 on another court request to proceed against him in a separate migrant case, where he is once again accused of illegal detention and abuse of power.

He is also being sued for defamation by the German captain of a charity migrant rescue vessel, and a decision is expected soon on whether that too will go to trial.

His League party has legal troubles of its own. It has been ordered to pay back some 49 million euros it owes the state, but which it claims not to have. Prosecutors are looking at whether funds have been moved and hidden abroad.

Investigators are also probing reports the party sought illicit funds from Russia.

“Salvini's judicial weather forecast looks bad,” the Corriere della Sera said.  

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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