Migrants, transhipments resumed on the ship Libra Safe countries, new halt by the judge in Catania

On the day on which a first transhipment of migrants was carried out on the Libra ship of the Italian Navy, which arrived in the morning south of Lampedusa and is destined to return to Albania with the people rescued at sea and deemed eligible for transfer, the tensions between the government and the judiciary restart from Catania, the court that a year ago saw the clash between judge Iolanda Apostolico and the executive always on immigration matters.

In the meantime, the Csm is calling for a case to be opened to protect the independence of the Bologna judges, who have referred the 'safe countries' decree to the EU Court of Justice. And Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in the evening, receives the vice-president of the Superior Council of the Magistracy, Fabio Pinelli, at Palazzo Chigi. "The visit," reads a note, "is part of a fruitful and virtuous collaboration, respecting the autonomy of the different institutions.

According to the Sicilian magistrates, a list of safe countries "does not exempt the judge from the obligation to verify the compatibility" of such "designation with EU law", also because "in Egypt there are serious violations of human rights" that "affect the freedoms of a democratic order". With this motivation, the court in Catania did not validate the detention ordered by the police commissioner of Ragusa against a migrant arrived from Egypt, who applied for refugee status in Pozzallo. According to the migrant's lawyer, Rosa Emanuela Lo Faro, 'this is the first such ruling after the decree law on safe countries'. The same court annulled the detention of four other migrants, two also Egyptians and two from Bangladesh.

Not surprisingly, the first to comment was the deputy prime minister and minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini: 'Because of a few communist judges who do not apply the laws, Italy is now an insecure country. But we do not give up!". Immediately afterwards, a note from the League attacks: 'Egypt is an increasingly popular destination for holidays, so much so that in 2023 it recorded a record number of visitors: 14.9 million, of which 850,000 from Italy. In other words, Egypt is a safe country for everyone, except for illegal immigrants who - according to some left-wing judges - cannot return there'. From the government filters 'anger' for 'a political choice that is not up to the judges'.

The judge and president of the immigration section of the Rome court, Luciana Sangiovanni, instead issued a decree suspending the effectiveness of the territorial commission's rejection of the asylum application of one of the twelve migrants who had been transferred to Albania. With this measure, the magistrate referred the new 'safe countries' decree to the European Court of Justice, urging an urgent response and citing the Italian government's recent 'intervention'.