The government decree stipulates that asylum seekers from a safe third country and whose asylum application is likely to be rejected can be detained pending deportation for up to 18 months, without examining the individual case. For this purpose, new deportation centers will be built throughout Italy, for example in old barracks or in container camps far from cities.
In Sicily there is the first field of this type in Pozzallo, on the south coast, as a pilot project. A 20-year-old Tunisian man who arrived on the island of Lampedusa at the end of September was detained. As Tunisia is considered a safe country of origin in Italy, his asylum request was initially rejected in an accelerated procedure and he was ordered to be accommodated in the closed centre.
Court annuls decree
The Tunisian sued and was successful. On September 29, the Catania court ruled the action unconstitutional and a violation of EU law. No one can be deprived of an individual review of their case and no one should be placed in custody similar to detention until this is done. The Tunisian justified his asylum request by saying that he had been persecuted for religious reasons.
Portal/Guglielmo Mangiapane Meloni is disappointed with the results of his migration policy
Following the court ruling, the complainant and three other Tunisians were released from the deportation center. The court also declared illegal another regulation, according to which rejected asylum seekers can be released from detention pending deportation by paying a bond of 4,938 euros. Non-party Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced after the verdict that the government would appeal the verdict – based on social media posts that claimed the presiding judge was biased.
Meloni: “incredible” verdict
The prime minister and leader of the ultra-right and post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, Giorgia Meloni, was “surprised” by the “unbelievable” verdict. But “we will continue to defend the border,” said Meloni, who sees Italy facing “unprecedented migratory pressure.” According to the Ministry of the Interior, 135,000 refugees have arrived in Italy since the beginning of 2023. In the comparable period of 2022 there were 72,411. Tunisia is one of the main transit countries for refugees from Africa heading to Europe.
Other right-wing politicians followed Meloni’s example – especially Salvini of the right-wing Lega Nacional. Following the verdict, he reiterated his call for fundamental judicial reform. Salvini was surprised that, in Italy’s notoriously slow legal system, a court heard a lawsuit brought by someone who had entered the country illegally just ten days after arriving. “Did the man already have his lawyer with him in the boat?” asked Salvini.
August 25, 2018, Catania, io ero Vicepremier and Minister dell’Interno. The main sinister manifestation for chiedere lo sbarco degli immigrati dalla nave Diciotti: the folla urla “assassini” e “animali” in faccia alla Polizia.
We are all familiar with each other…. pic.twitter.com/Khfy8mtV5o-Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) October 5, 2023
Salvini’s video about “murderers” and “animals”
On Thursday, he finally posted a video to denigrate the presiding judge in Catania as biased. The footage shows them at a demonstration in 2018 against the then government’s closed ports policy. Dozens of refugees rescued from dangerous situations at sea were kept for days on board the coast guard ship “Diciotti”.
“The extreme left demonstrates to demand the disembarkation of immigrants from the Diciotti ship: the crowd shouts ‘murderers’ and ‘animals’ in the police officers’ faces. I seem to see some familiar faces…” wrote Salvini, referring to the judge. “If someone now complains that she is being accused of not appearing impartial, perhaps she could have behaved a little differently,” commented Salvini.
Opposition detects “witch hunt”
While the judge defended herself by saying she was between the police and the protesters to calm the situation, the Italian judges’ association ANM expressed concern about investigating the judges’ private lives rather than criticizing their actions on the matter. “If the fact is so serious and shocking, why did we act five years later and not immediately?” asked the president of ANM, Giuseppe Santalucia.
“The witch hunt launched by Salvini against the person of the judge is really incredibly serious” and “deserves answers that Minister Piantedosi must give”, stated the center-left senators from the opposition Democratic Party (PD), Anna Rossomando and Walter Verini . “How did this video come about and where from? Who made this? Are there perhaps special files? The episode raises worrying questions,” they added.
Portal/Yara Nardi Italy continues to face strong migratory movements
The opposition Five Star Movement (M5S) adopted a similar line. “The question we asked ourselves is how did the minister get the video? Are protesters being profiled? Is the profile used to collect sensitive information? “To incite hatred and resentment against a judge who made a decision that this government does not like?” said M5S deputy Vittoria Baldino.
M5S leader Giuseppe Conte is convinced that judges are not only impartial but must also act impartially, but warned the government: “Do not make judges new enemies.” the green opposition party AVS.
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“Not what we expected”
Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, from the Italia Viva party, however, sided with the government, although he does not share its immigration policy: “I find it scandalous that a judge takes to the streets. If you want to get involved in politics, don’t be a judge.” Meloni won the parliamentary elections in September 2022 with, among other things, the promise of tougher action against illegal immigration. However, on the anniversary of her electoral victory, she admitted in an interview that the results in this area “were not what we expected”.