Italian deputy PM acquitted of charges over refusal to let migrant ship dock

Charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty were brought against Matteo Salvini after he blocked a rescue boat in 2019

Judges in Sicily have acquitted Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini of charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty after he refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people onboard at sea for days.

The case dates back to a time when Salvini, head of the far-right political party Lega, served as the interior minister during the first government of the then prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, from 2018-19.