The former Italian mayor, symbol of welcoming refugees, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his handling of immigration

A former mayor who was once considered a model for the integration of immigrants in Italy was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Thursday. for a series of offenses, including that of promoting illegal immigration.

Domenico “Mimmo” Lucano, former mayor of Riace, was also convicted of fraud, embezzlement conspiracy and abuse of authority by the court of Calabria, the region which forms the “tip of the foot” of the Italian peninsula.

The sentence handed down at first instance was almost double the 7 years required by the Locri prosecutor’s office, which raised the hypothesis of the existence of a penal system in what had been baptized as an example in the reception of migrants.

Lucano has denied any wrongdoing. The former mayor put a hand on his forehead in disbelief as he heard the verdict and sentence handed down after three days of deliberations.

“It’s an unprecedented story. I will defile myself forever for sins I did not commit. I expected an acquittal “said Lucano, who served as mayor of Riace from 2004 until his arrest in 2018, after hearing the conviction.

The prosecution alleged that Lucanus facilitated marriages of convenience between Italian men in the town of Riace and foreign women, so that they can obtain residence permits in Italy. The prosecution also argued that Lucano embezzled government funds meant to help migrants, including € 5million which prosecutors say went into private pockets and was not used to help migrants, although there was no evidence that there were any economic gains from the advisor.

For its part, their lawyers have indicated that they will appeal the conviction and sentence, which was about five years longer than prosecutors asked for.

“It’s an exorbitant sentence that goes completely against the obvious … (it is) totally incomprehensible and unjustified”, said lawyers Giuliano Pisapia and Andrea Daqcua.

“More than 13 years in prison for a man like Mimmo Lucano, who lives in poverty and has received no pecuniary or non-pecuniary benefit from his actions as mayor of Riace … unbelievable“They said.

Lucanus, who will appeal, “He has always been committed to his community and to welcoming and integrating children, women and men fleeing war, torture and hunger.», They underlined.

According to the lawyer Pisapia, former left-wing mayor of Milan, said that it was a politically motivated trial. “Without a doubt, there was some hostility towards Lucanus “, he stressed.

Lucano remains free pending the results of his latest appeals.

Aid groups save migrants of smugglers’ boats unfit for the sea in the Mediterranean and human rights groups as stated by Amnesty International anger at the court’s verdict and sentence.

For years, the model applied to Riace, a town of less than 2,000 inhabitants, for the reception of immigrants had gone around the world.

The mayor of this city, with a major depopulation problem, had focused on welcoming immigrants to repopulate abandoned houses in Riace, where hundreds of foreigners live today.

The abandoned houses had been restored with EU funds to provide a home for immigrants, who had settled in the country and created work with artisan workshops and new restaurants, attracting tourists.

Riace’s rebirth had even been the subject of a 2010 documentary by German filmmaker Wim Wenders titled “Il Volo”, in which he told how Lucano had managed to make his people survive thanks to the effective project of welcoming refugees, offering them shelter in abandoned houses in the municipality.

In 2016, the review Forbes included it between the 40 most influential world leaders and also the mayor of Barcelona, Ada colau, visited the Italian people and underlined their “example of good policy in the reception” of refugees and also “of integration and fight against xenophobia”.

The court too ordered Lucanus to reimburse 500,000 euros ($ 580,000) in EU funds.

“I am outside the law because the state behaved in a cowardly way with me”Lucano said on leaving court, according to the newspaper Republic.

“I have spent my life chasing anti-Mafia ideals. I became mayor, I sided with the less fortunate, for the refugeesHe said, and stressed that “Even mafia crimes do not receive such penalties.”

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