Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has been listed among the witnesses in a trial in Italy against former home affairs minister Matteo Salvini, according to Italian media reports. 

Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, is charged with kidnapping and abuse of office for using his position as interior minister to stop 147 rescued migrants from disembarking from a rescue ship and holding them in dire conditions in August 2019. The migrants were finally allowed to leave the vessel after six days, following an order by the prosecutor's office.

On the opening day of trial in Palermo, prosecutors asked that they also be allowed to question Salvini on the stand.

The hearing, which came a month after the trial was first postponed, was largely procedural and lasted less than three hours before Judge Roberto Murgia set the next hearing for December 17. 

Matteo Salvini at an anti-immigration rally in 2014. Photo: AFP.

If convicted, Salvini could face a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Italian media reported over the weekend that Muscat is one of 26 witnesses expected to testify at the trial.

Contacted on Sunday, Muscat told Times of Malta he had not been summoned to testify “so far”. 

The trial’s next sitting is on 17 December.

In 2019, Times of Malta had reported on the Muscat administration’s secret dealings with neighbouring countries to try to block migrant arrivals.  

Meanwhile, Salvini has said the decision to detain migrants was not his alone, but agreed by the government, including by the then-prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.

Prosecutors have asked that the witness list include Conte, as well as Italy's current Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

Judge Murgia said US actor Richard Gere would be allowed to take the stand as a witness, as requested by civil party Open Arms, the Spanish charity that operated the rescue vessel.

The actor had boarded the ship in solidarity with the migrants before it docked at the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. 

Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi had earlier told the court the actor's presence was not required as it would create "spectacle" and there were more qualified witnesses. 

Salvini tweeted a photo of himself inside the courtroom, standing in front pf one of the cells used for some defendants.

Salvini has staunchly defended himself, saying he was protecting the country with his "closed ports" policy, which aimed to stop people attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Italy.

Italy's Senate voted last year to strip Salvini of his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for the trial. 

A related case in which Salvini was accused of blocking other migrants at sea on an Italian coastguard boat was thrown out by a court in Catania earlier this year.

Salvini's League takes a hard line on migrants, arguing that Italy bears an unfair burden as the first point of entry into Europe for those arriving from northern Africa.

When he blocked the ships, Salvini was part of a coalition government and held the positions of interior minister and deputy prime minister.