The first president of Italy's
Cassation Court, Margherita Cassano, on Friday said sentences
can be criticized but insults are unacceptable and question the
separation of powers after a ruling by the supreme court
ordering the government to pay compensation to migrants who were
prevented from disembarking from coastguard ship Diciotti in
2018 sparked a controversy.
"The decisions of the Court of Cassation, along with those of
other judges, can be subjected to criticism.
"However, insults questioning the separation of powers on which
the rule of law is based are unacceptable", said Cassano.
Cassano, the first woman to lead the supreme court, spoke after
the Cassation's ruling was seriously questioned by members of
the government.
The court on Friday ruled in favour of an appeal filed by a
group of migrants who were not allowed to disembark from the
Italian coast guard's Diciotti vessel that had rescued them at
sea on August 16-25 2018 as part of then-interior minister
Matteo Salvini's closed-ports policy.
The appeal demanded that the Italian government compensate the
refugees on the grounds that they had been deprived of their
personal freedom.
Deputy Premier, Transport Minister and anti-migrant League party
leader Matteo Salvini said Friday the court had been
"disgraceful" in ordering the government to pay compensation to
the migrants.
Salvini, whose closed ports policy as then interior minister
was the cause of the failure to let the group of migrants off
the ship, called the Cassation's verdict "another invasion of
the field" after recent sentences which the government has
characterised as stepping over the judiciary's realm and into
the world of politics.
Meanwhile Premier Giorgia Meloni said the sentence was
"questionable" and the government would need to use "the money
of honest Italian tax payers" to pay "people who tried to enter
Italy illegally, violating the law of the Italian State".
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said
Friday that he also did not agree with the sentence.
Tajani, the leader of the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party,
noted that it was the "government's duty to defend national
borders, but if all irregular migrants were to demand
compensation the State would default".
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