Matteo Salvini: Go Ahead, Arrest Me — Make My Day!

Two weeks ago the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti, which was carrying 150 illegal migrants, was detained in the Sicilian port of Catania and the migrants were not allowed to land. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said that none of the ship’s human cargo could be off-loaded until other European countries agreed to take them.

A group of progressive-minded Italians reported Mr. Salvini for what they described as his “illegal detention” of the migrants. Here’s a brief summary from ANSA:

Salvini Reported for Fomenting Race Hate

(ANSA) — Treviso, August 24 — Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in Treviso has been reported for instigating race hatred, sources said Friday. Salvini, who has taken a hard line on migrants, was reported by a group of Italian citizens for statements he made in June and July, legal sources said.

Mr. Salvini reacted with characteristic defiance to the threat of arrest, and recorded the video below in response.

Many thanks to FouseSquawk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says Matteo Salvini is “my hero”.

Also: an English-language report on Salvini from The Express.

Video transcript:

00:00   The ship Diciotti remains stopped at the port of Catania. How can the situation be resolved?
00:05   As an Italian minister and as a father, I think, regarding immigration, Italy has given enough.
00:09   Seven hundred thousand disembarkations in just a few years.
00:13   One hundred sixty thousand guests in hotels paid for by the Italian people.
00:18   130,000 applications for political asylum that go back to previous governments,
00:22   Therefore I decided to put the brake on it. Stop.
00:26   In Italy, those who arrive here with permission to come, like this and other ships
00:30   will not land anyone in Italy, at least until Europe finally wakes up,
00:34   does its part and receives [them] as we have done in the past years.
00:39   But [?] are you worried by the Agrigento prosecutor’s investigation of illegal detention?
00:43   I am not worried, because I hear at least the major part of the Italian people.
00:47   If there are some magistrates, some prosecutors who
00:50   want to investigate me for illegal detention, go ahead.
00:53   I will present myself. I want to explain my reasons.
00:57   If someone is thinking of arresting me, they misunderstand, because I am on the side of
01:01   the Italian people, who want order, rules, respect, and controlled immigration.
01:07   I ask that magistrates who do their job well
01:10   to do it in a way that the processes [are expedited],
01:13   because there are four million Italians who are awaiting justice.
01:16   Therefore, I don’t think that a trial of Matteo Salvini could serve anyone.
01:21   Could the polemics with the president of the cabinet, [Roberto] Fico [unintelligible]
01:24   the intervention of Mattarella and Conte have consequences for the stability of the government?
01:27   I want to [keep] my promise to the Italian people.
01:30   Lower taxes, the rule of law, less bureaucracy,
01:34   fiscal peace, with equity, and therefore I will fight until the last to keep these pledges.
01:40   I would like if our allies would do the same,
01:43   each one carry out their work,
01:46   and that there would not be interference, internal or international,
01:49   to slow the work of a government which finally represents a change
01:54   and gains the trust of millions of Italians.
01:57   I will not give in, will not resign, and will not retreat one millimeter.
 

Hat tip for the articles: Reader from Chicago.

4 thoughts on “Matteo Salvini: Go Ahead, Arrest Me — Make My Day!

      • We will have to agree to disagree. The US has it bad too. I am watching MN sink into the “Progressive” abyss, due to mass redistribution of wealth and rapidly changing demographics.

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