The deputy prime minister and the leader of the far-right League party claimed he was a victim in the fight against illegal immigration that has swept across Europe.

An Italian court has ruled that deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini committed no crime when he refused to allow a Spanish charity ship carrying nearly 150 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea to disembark in Italy six years ago.

An Italian court on Friday acquitted Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of illegally blocking migrants on a rescue ship at sea in 2019, for which he had risked six years in prison.