Italian Senate lifts immunity of defiant Salvini over migrant boat

Leader of Italy's far-right party Matteo Salvini gestures at the Senate ahead of a vote on whether to pursue an investigation against him that could give rise to a trial for alleged kidnapping of migrants, in Rome, Italy February 12, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

ROME (Reuters) - Italian senators voted on Wednesday to lift immunity for far-right leader Matteo Salvini, opening the way for a potentially career-ending trial over accusations that he illegally detained migrants at sea last year.

The decision gives magistrates in Sicily the go-ahead to press charges over his decision to keep more than 100 migrants blocked aboard a coastguard ship for six days last July as he waited for other European Union states to agree to take them in.