A12 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, OCTOBER 25 , 2021
the photo might also help ease a
backlash a gainst refugee commu-
nities in Turkey, where some
blame them for economic woes.
His image — which he titled
“Hardship of Life” and which
jurors described as “emotionally
strong” — will be placed on
display with others in an exhibit
in Italy this month.“The picture has reached the
world,” said the boy’s mother,
Zeinab. “We’ve tried for years to
get our voices heard by anyone
who would listen, to help with his
treatment. We’d give anything to
give him a better life.”Zeynep Karatas in Istanbul
contributed to this report.BY MIRIAM BERGERMatteo Salvini, a former interi-
or minister and the head of Italy’s
right-wing League party, is on
trial on kidnapping charges relat-
ed to his denial of entry to a
humanitarian ship carrying mi-
grants and asylum seekers aban-
doned at sea in 2019.
And he is angry that Hollywood
actor Richard Gere is standing as
a witness against him.
Salvini was in court Saturday
in the Sicilian capital, Palermo,
for a hearing to approve the list of
witnesses for his trial.
Among those set to testify
against him are senior Italian
politicians, including former
prime minister Giuseppe Conte,
and volunteers for the Spanish
organization Proactiva Open
Arms, who managed the search-
and-rescue ship in question.
Gere was in Italy as a volunteer
with Open Arms during the 2019
incident. He is expected to testify
about the unsafe conditions
aboard the ship.
Salvini, a populist known for
his nationalist and anti-immigra-
tion politics, could face up to 15
years in prison if found guilty and
could be barred from holding gov-
ernment office. The trial is ex-
pected to stretch over months.
Refugee and immigration ac-
tivists are hoping that a ruling
against Salvini will set a legal
precedent that will deter govern-
ments from disrupting such
search-and-rescue missions.
“Violating a fundamental right
such as the protection of human
beings at sea for the sake of politi-
cal propaganda is shameful,”
Open Arms founder Òscar Camps
previously told Reuters. He called
the trial “an opportunity to judge
a period of European history.”
Salvini is accused of abuse of
power, dereliction of duty, and
kidnapping 147 migrants and asy-
lum seekers over his refusal to let
the rescue ship dock in Italy. Theship remained at sea off the Ital-
ian island of Lampedusa for 18
days in sweltering heat as condi-
tions aboard rapidly deteriorated.
In desperation, about 15 pas-
sengers threw themselves over-
board in an attempt to reach Italy
as the ship’s c aptain issued urgent
pleas for a safe place to land,
France 24 reported.
As the days wore on, minors
and people requiring medical
care were permitted to disem-
bark.
An Italian judge eventually
overruled Salvini, who was interi-
or minister at the time, and al-
lowed the remaining 83 passen-
gers to disembark at Lampedusa.
Salvini had banned the dock-
ing of ships run by nongovern-
mental organizations like Open
Arms in an effort to cut off migra-
tion from Africa and the Middle
East.
But refugees and asylum seek-
ers still kept making the danger-
ous journey from Libya to Europe
on dingy, overcrowded boats —
and humanitarian ships kept res-
cuing those stranded at sea.
Salvini has rejected the charges
against him as an attack by his
political opponents.
“Defending a country’s bor-
ders, security, honor and dignity
is not just a minister’s duty but
everyone’s duty,” he said, accord-
ing to Reuters. “Being put on trial
for just doing my duty is surreal.”
Among his complaints is that
Gere has been approved to testify
against him.
“Now you tell me how serious is
a trial where Richard Gere comes
from Hollywood to testify on how
bad I am,” Salvini said, according
to Reuters.
It remains unclear whether
Gere will testify in person.
More than 1 million refugees
tried to enter Europe in 2015
during the height of the migra-
tion crisis. The flow of people has
significantly declined since Tur-
key and the European Union
signed a 2016 pact to limit migra-
tion, among other measures to
restrict entry.
Countless migrants, however,
have continued to die in ship-
wrecks while crossing the Medi-
terranean Sea.
[email protected]Italian politician on trial
for b arring migrant ship
Richard Gere summoned
as a witness against
right-wing leaderBY ELLEN FRANCISSyrian father Munzir al-Nazzal
has struggled to get by since he
was injured in a bombing of a
market and fled to Turkey. But
what occupies his thoughts most
of the time is not the leg he lost:
It’s the future of his 5-year-old
son, Mustafa, who was born with-
out limbs.
The two are the subjects of a
photo by Turkish photographer
Mehmet Aslan, which came in
first out of thousands as photo of
the year in the annual Siena
International Photo Awards.
“We wanted to bring attention
to this,” said Aslan, who hopes
the image will highlight the refu-
gee child’s quest for prosthetics.
“The boy always has lots of en-
ergy. The father seems to have
given up.”
Aslan told The Washington
Post he had met the father of
three in southern Turkey n ear the
Syrian border, where they lived in
a shop. The parents have since
moved in an attempt to get help
for Mustafa, their eldest, who
needs medical treatment they
cannot fully afford and special
prostheses they cannot find in
Turkey.
“I swear I’ve gone from one
hospital to another. There isn’t a
town where I haven’t asked about
this, but nothing has come of it,”
Nazzal told The Post.
Mustafa, who was born with
the congenital disorder
t etra-amelia, smiles as he rolls on
the carpet, before his little sister
picks him up and places him on a
sofa. “This is how he is, but he’s
so, so smart,” his father said.
His family has relied mostly on
charity in more than three years
since they escaped Idlib — the
last major pocket of Syria in the
hands of Islamist rebels after 10
years of war — which has come
under attacks by government
forces and their allies.
That corner of northern Syria
sits along a border dotted with
camps crammed with refugees.
In a decade of conflict, millions of
Syrians have poured into Turkey
and other countries in the region.
The photographer, Aslan, hopes
Behind the ‘photo of the year’: Life
without limbs for a f ather and son
MEHMET ASLANMunzir al-Nazzal, a
Syrian father who lost
his leg in a bombing,
holds up his 5-year-old
son, Mustafa, w ho was
born without limbs
because of the c ongenital
disorder tetra-amelia.Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah)Monday, October 25 at 1:30 p.m.The chair of the Conservative ClimateCaucus discusses the goals of a delegationof Republican House members attendingthe upcoming COP26 climate summit inGlasgow, Scotland.To register to watch, visit:wapo.st/curtisoct