Meloni says judges on compensation to Sea Watch leave her speechless

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 18 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday judges in Palermo who have ordered Italy to pay 76,000 euros in compensation to German migrant rescue NGO Sea Watch for illegally detaining one of its ships in 2019 had left her speechless, in her latest condemnation of migrant legal rulings. "Not only was (Sea Watch 3 captain Carola) Rackete acquitted at the time because, according to some magistrates, it was permissible to force a police blockade in the name of mass illegal immigration," the premier said on social media. "Today, the judges have made another decision that leaves me literally speechless: they have ordered the Italian state to compensate the NGO owner of the ship captained by Rackete with 76,000 euros, again from Italians, because after the ramming of our soldiers, the vessel was rightfully detained and seized." Rackete was cleared of ramming coast guard ships in order to land ailing migrants after weeks of being prevented from docking at Lampedusa. "The other question I ask myself is what message they're trying to convey with this long series of objectively absurd decisions: that the government is not allowed to try to combat mass illegal immigration, that whatever laws are passed and whatever proceedings are conducted, a politicized segment of the judiciary is ready to get in the way?" Meloni said in a video on social media. "I don't know," the prime minister continued, "but in any case, I'm sorry if I disappoint more than a few people, because we are particularly stubborn and we will continue and do our best to keep the word we gave to Italians and to enforce the rules and laws of the Italian state. "We will do everything necessary to defend, in particular, our borders and the safety of our citizens." Meloni has been ramping up criticism of judicial rulings against the government's policies, especially on migration and migrant crime, ahead of a referendum on the government's contested judiciary reform next month. On Tuesday she said politicised members of the judiciary were continuing to hamper government efforts to crack down on immigration and migrant crime after an Algerian irregular migrant with 23 convictions including beating up and kicking a woman was ordered to be compensated by the authorities after their failure to have him expelled. "Italians voted for the center-right also for this reason: to reestablish clear rules and enforce them, and the government is doing so resolutely despite a politicized section of the judiciary continuing to obstruct any action aimed at combating mass illegal immigration," she said in a video on social media. "Because welcoming those who have the right is a duty, respecting Italian laws is essential, and anyone who refuses to do so is not welcome in Italy. "(An) Algerian citizen, illegally residing in Italy, who has 23 convictions, including assault for kicking and punching a woman, who cannot be held in a CPR (migrant detention centre) or transferred to (an Italian-run processing centre in) Albania for repatriation. "For him," the prime minister said, "some judges have even ruled not only that he will not be expelled, but that the Ministry of the Interior will have to compensate him €700 for attempting to enforce an expulsion order." (ANSA). Read article...

By ANSA