The far-right leader denies charges of abuse of office and the deprivation of liberty of 147 migrants on board the Open Arms charity ship in August 2019
The far-right leader denies charges of abuse of office and the deprivation of liberty of 147 migrants on board the Open Arms charity ship in August 2019 AFP

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was defiant Friday as he arrived for the verdict in his long-running trial for blocking a migrant rescue ship at sea, for which he risks six years in jail.

The far-right leader denies charges of abuse of office and the deprivation of liberty of 147 migrants on board the Open Arms charity ship in August 2019, when he was interior minister in a previous government.

But as he arrived at the court in Palermo, Sicily, to a scrum of reporters, Salvini defended his actions and said he would do it again.

"I have fought mass immigration and whatever the verdict, for me today is a beautiful day because I am proud to have defended my country," he said.

Salvini, whose League party is a partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition, refused to let the ship disembark the migrants it had rescued in the Mediterranean.

The stand-off lasted nearly three weeks and made global headlines, with other EU nations offering to take the migrants, humanitarian groups weighing in and even Hollywood actor Richard Gere visiting the ship in solidarity.

In the end, the migrants were allowed to disembark on the Italian island of Lampedusa following a court order.

The case continues to draw international attention, with US billionaire Elon Musk among those offering his support.

Meloni, whose hard-right government has also targeted charity rescue ships in its attempts to stop migrants arriving on Italy's shores, has strongly backed Salvini.

In September, after prosecutors requested a six-year prison sentence, the prime minister said it was "incredible" that Salvini risked jail "for doing his job defending the nation's borders".

Nationalist politicians across Europe have also weighed in on Salvini's behalf, from France's Marine Le Pen to Hungary's Viktor Orban.

Orban tweeted "justice for Salvini" on Thursday alongside a photo of himself and others holding up t-shirts emblazoned with Salvini's face in a mock-up "Wanted" poster.

"Crazy that Salvini is being tried for defending Italy!" added Musk, the world's richest man, on the X social platform that he owns.

Even if found guilty, there is no prospect of immediate jail time as Salvini would have the right to appeal.

But Oscar Camps, founder of the Spanish NGO Open Arms which operates the eponymous rescue ship, said much was riding on the verdict.

"We hope for justice, even if we realise there is a significant international pressure in (Salvini's) favour," he said.

He added: "It is a sentence that could make history and create a precedent We hope the judge will resist the pressure and be fair."

An outspoken politician known for an "Italians first" policy, Salvini has repeatedly used attacks against illegal immigration to boost his political capital.

In 2019, serving in a coalition government led by Giuseppe Conte, he implemented a "closed ports" policy under which Italy refused entry to charity ships rescuing migrants making the often deadly sea crossing from North Africa.

Salvini claimed he was protecting Italy with his security law, casting it as a tough measure against traffickers who organise the often overcrowded boats.

He said this week that if he is convicted, the traffickers will celebrate.

Members of Open Arms testified that the migrants' physical and mental wellbeing on board the ship had reached a crisis point, with dire sanitary conditions including a scabies outbreak.

But Salvini testified that he had understood that "the situation was not at risk" on board the ship.

He has also insisted that the entire Conte government was behind the migration policy, and that it was not just his decision.

Conte, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, previously testified that he tried to "exercise moral suasion" with Salvini, saying he considered "the decision to keep them on board had no legal basis".

The verdict, more than three years after the trial opened in October 2021, comes as Meloni's government faces judicial challenges to its own migration policy.

The prime minister, head of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, has criticised judges who have ruled against her attempts to fast-track asylum applications, including in two new Italian-run centres in Albania.

Her government has also limited the activities of charity rescue ships like the Open Arms, accusing them of encouraging migration -- something observers say is unproven.

Salvini was cleared for the trial after the Italian Senate in 2020 voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.