Judges in the Sicilian city of Palermo cleared him of two counts of kidnap and dereliction of duty, after prosecutors had sought a jail term of six years.

Salvini, who’s leader of the right-wing Lega party and a government ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has always argued he was guilty only of wanting to “protect Italy”.

“I have kept my promises, combating mass immigration and reducing departures, landings and deaths at sea,” he told reporters outside court on Friday.

On hearing the verdict, Salvini clenched his fists in a sign of victory and hugged his girlfriend, film producer Francesca Verdini, Ansa news agency reported.

The trial began in September 2021, focusing on a case when Salvini, as interior minister, had sought to stop irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean by blocking Italy’s ports.

He had ordered an NGO ship called Open Arms to be prevented from docking on the island of Lampedusa after it had picked up 147 migrants off the Libyan coast.

The Open Arms remained at sea for almost three weeks, and the health situation of the migrants on board seriously deteriorated.

Eventually, the prosecutor in the Sicilian city of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, ordered the vessel to be preventatively seized after inspecting it and noting the “difficult situation on board”.

The captain of Open Arms and some of those rescued from sea were civil parties in the case, which began in September 2021.

The three female prosecutors in the case have been under police protection after being harassed online and receiving threats.

One of them, Geri Ferrara, told the court in September that human rights had to prevail over the “protection of state sovereignty”.

“A person stranded at sea must be saved and it is irrelevant whether they are classified as a migrant, a crewmember or a passenger”, she said.

Salvini maintained that the then-government of Giuseppe Conte had backed him fully in his mission to “close the ports” of Italy to NGO rescue ships.

In recent months, the deputy prime minister had frequently referenced the trial and the forthcoming verdict in social media posts and during public speeches and interviews.

PM Giorgia Meloni has stood by her deputy prime minister, saying he had her and her government’s “solidarity”.

“Turning the duty to protect Italy’s borders from illegal immigration into a crime is a very serious precedent,” she posted on X earlier this year.

After the verdict, the governor of the Veneto region and Lega party colleague Luca Zaia said justice had been done.

“Salvini acted in the legitimate interest of our country and in full respect for his institutional responsibilities,” he posted on Facebook.

Salvini had been criticised after he said the Italian judiciary was “politicised” and that some magistrates were “clearly following left-wing politics”.

Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, accused him of “spreading propaganda and fuelling a serious institutional clash”.

Members of Salvini’s Lega party rallied around him. On Wednesday, Lega MEPs turned up at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg wearing t-shirts that read “Guilty of defending Italy” – a slogan Salvini has used in the past.

Current Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Friday that whatever the sentence it would not affect the government.

However, Lega deputy secretary Andrea Crippa had warned that a guilty verdict would be “like convicting the entire Italian people, the Italian parliament and the elected government”.

Others outside Italy have waded into the debate too.”That mad prosecutor should be the one who goes to prison for six years,” Elon Musk tweeted, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Salvini, called the trial “shameful”.

Prosecutors in Sicily have asked judges to sentence him to six years in jail.

Salvini, who’s leader of the right-wing Lega party and a government ally of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has already said he will lodge an appeal if found guilty.

He has pushed back against the accusations, repeatedly alleging the judges were being “political” and maintaining his only guilt was in wanting to “protect Italy”.

One of the prosecutors, Geri Ferrara, told the court in September that human rights had to prevail over the “protection of state sovereignty”.

“A person stranded at sea must be saved and it is irrelevant whether they are classified as a migrant, a crewmember or a passenger”, she said.

An NGO ship called Open Arms was carrying 147 migrants picked up off the Libyan coast when it was prevented from docking on the Italian island of Lampedusa on the orders of Salvini, who was interior minister at the time.

The Open Arms remained at sea for almost three weeks, and the health situation of the migrants on board seriously deteriorated.

Eventually, the prosecutor in the Sicilian city of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, ordered the vessel to be preventatively seized after inspecting it and noting the “difficult situation on board”.

Salvini maintained that the then-government of Giuseppe Conte had backed him fully in his mission to “close the ports” of Italy to NGO rescue ships.

PM Giorgia Meloni has stood by her deputy prime minister, saying he had her and her government’s “solidarity”.

“Turning the duty to protect Italy’s borders from illegal immigration into a crime is a very serious precedent,” she posted on X earlier this year.

She has never indicated that she would expect his resignation in case of a guilty verdict, and for his part Salvini has said he would not step down.

In recent months he has frequently referenced the trial and the forthcoming verdict in social media posts and during public speeches and interviews.

“I want to believe that Italy is a normal country, and in a normal country someone who defends borders isn’t found guilty,” he told Italian media earlier this week. If that was the case, he said, “it would be terrible news for the country and a reason to celebrate for people smugglers and enemies of Italy”.

He has also alleged that the Italian judiciary was “politicised” and that some magistrates were “clearly following left-wing politics”.

Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, accused Salvini of “spreading propaganda and fuelling a serious institutional clash”.

The three female prosecutors in the case have been under police protection since September after being harassed online and receiving threats.

Members of Salvini’s Lega party have rallied around him and are preparing demonstrations in his support.

On Wednesday, Lega MEPs turned up at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg wearing t-shirts that read “Guilty of defending Italy” – a slogan Salvini has used in the past.

“A conviction would be an incredibly serious matter,” said Lega deputy secretary Andrea Crippa: “It would be like convicting the entire Italian people, the Italian parliament and the elected government.”

Lombardy’s Lega party president, Attilio Fontana, said a guilty verdict would be “so aberrant, even from a judicial point of view, that I don’t even want to think about it”.

Others outside Italy have waded into the debate too.

“That mad prosecutor should be the one who goes to prison for six years,” Elon Musk tweeted, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Salvini, called the trial “shameful”.

If convicted, Salvini has said he will appeal against the verdict “all the way to the Supreme Court of Cassation” – Italy’s highest court.

That process could take months and Salvini’s position in the government and parliament would be unaffected.