Rome (AFP) – Prosecutors in Sicily on Saturday opened an inquiry into Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for “illegal confinement, illegal arrest and abuse of power” in connection with Rome’s refusal to allow a group of migrants to disembark from a coastguard ship, media reports said.

Rome has blocked more than 100 migrants from stepping off the Diciotti vessel, which docked at the port of Catania in Sicily on Monday night, leaving them stranded as Italy pushes for other EU nations to take them in.