Strong condemnation of the former mayor of Calabria, a figure for receiving immigrants

The former mayor of Riace in Calabria (south), Domenico Lucano – a symbolic figure for the reception and integration of immigrants in Italy – was sentenced on Thursday to more than 13 years in the Court of First Instance. Near left, Domenico Lucano, who has welcomed immigrants since the 2000s into his abandoned village in Calabria (south), aiming to revive development and jobs, was arrested in the fall of 2018 and placed under house arrest.

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Details of Thursday’s conviction, announced by the Lochry Court to the press, have not yet been revealed. But Mr. Lucano has been accused in particular of establishing arranged marriages of convenience to help women who have refused asylum to remain in Italy. He was also accused of dismissing a call for bids to commission immigrant-linked cooperatives to manage garbage in his village of 1,800. The municipality of Riace has been funded for years by European and Italian funds. According to Italian media, Domenico Lucano has ordered the return of 500,000 euros of European funding.

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The attorney general had requested nearly 8 years in prison for the former city councilman, who said he was shocked by his heavy sentence announced on Thursday. “I was expecting to be acquitted. I will forever be affected by the actions I did not do“reaction. His lawyers announced that they would appeal this ruling in the first instance, asserting that the former mayor did not obtain any financial advantage in this case. Distinguished in 2010 with the third “The best mayor in the worldCited among the 100 most influential people by Fortune magazine in 2016, Lucano has inspired a documentary story by Wim Wenders and a TV movie.

see also – Reception of immigrants: “Christ addressed the consciences of individuals, not rulers.”