Italian judge drops refugee ‘kidnapping’ case against Salvini

Decision contradicts ruling in similar case last month involving Salvini’s treatment of migrants and refugees.

An Italian judge in Sicily has dismissed a case against right-wing leader Matteo Salvini for refusing to let migrants and refugees disembark from a coastguard ship in 2019, saying no crime had been committed. The case centred on an incident in July 2019, when Salvini, then Italy’s interior minister, blocked more than 100 people aboard the Gregoretti for six days as he waited for European allies to agree to resettle them. Some had accused Salvini of kidnapping the refugees.