Open Arms, Nordio: "The acquittals are not being appealed, we will fix it."

“No appeal against acquittals, as in all civilized countries,” said Justice Minister Carlo Nordio in relation to the appeal of the acquittal in the Open Arms affair against Matteo Salvini , Interior Minister at the time.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks of a "surreal relentlessness" on the part of Palermo's magistrates. Then, speaking of the reform of the honorary judiciary, she adds that it is "just one piece of a broader effort the government is undertaking to reform the Italian justice system, to put an end to the distortions we have witnessed in recent decades, to combine the necessary guarantees with fair and speedy trials."

Hungary also defends Prime Minister Viktor Orban : "The left's absurdity is on full display: Italian prosecutors are appealing Matteo Salvini's acquittal in the Open Arms case for doing what every responsible leader should do: defending his country's borders. This is not justice, it's political revenge. We stand with Matteo!"

Salvini: "Defending borders is not a crime."

"Defending Italy and its borders is not a crime." These are the words of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, commenting on the news of the appeal. "I have attended more than thirty hearings," he said at the inauguration of the Coast Guard's Lakes Operations Unit in Milan. "The Court acquitted me because the fact did not exist, recognizing that defending the borders is not a crime. Evidently, someone is not giving up, let's move on: I'm not worried." Salvini emphasized: "There is no conflict between politics and the judiciary over the Open Arms case, and in fact I thank the Palermo Court and sign all 268 pages justifying my total acquittal, which came after dozens of hearings and years of investigation." According to Giulia Bongiorno, a League senator and Salvini's lawyer in the Open Arms trial, "the Palermo Court's ruling is complete and timely in fact and unexceptionable in law."

Prime Minister Meloni: "This is a surreal persecution."

"This relentlessness is surreal, after a failed three-year trial—of a minister who wanted to uphold the law—which ended in a full acquittal. I wonder what Italians think of all this energy and resources spent like this, while thousands of honest citizens await justice." This is what Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X. And Salvini thanks the prime minister on Instagram: "Thank you Giorgia. I am convinced that defending Italy and its borders is not a crime. More months or years of trials? I will move forward, with my head held high, with the certainty of having done my duty, without any fear."

Nordio: "The acquittals are not being challenged, we will fix it."

"No appeals against acquittals, as in all civilized countries. Otherwise, we'll end up with what happened in the Garlasco case. Beyond the political implications of this unusual decision, there's a technical problem. How could a conviction beyond any reasonable doubt be imposed tomorrow, when after three years of hearings, a judge doubted and acquitted? The slowness of our justice system also depends on the inability of many magistrates to confront the evidence. We will remedy this." This was stated by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on the sidelines of the FdI conference "Talk about the Mafia."

Piantedosi: "I consider myself morally responsible."

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi expressed his solidarity with the Minister of Infrastructure. "With profound respect for all judicial processes," he said, "including the legitimate decision of a major judicial office like the Palermo Prosecutor's Office, to challenge an acquittal that had been handed down, and interpreting it very forcefully as an affirmation of very clear principles, I am sorry, first and foremost, on a human, personal, and professional level."

Zan (Democratic Party): "Unacceptable attacks"

"Nordio is crossing all boundaries: he attacks a magistrate for expressing legal opinions on the Almasri case, alludes to disciplinary sanctions, and then takes aim at the magistrates who challenged Salvini's acquittal in the Open Arms trial," said Alessandro Zan , member of the Democratic Party's national secretariat and vice-president of the European Parliament's LIBE Committee. "This behavior is unworthy of a minister of the Republic. In a European democracy founded on the rule of law, the separation of powers is a cornerstone. Nordio should stop intimidating the judiciary and instead focus on telling the truth."