A very harsh sentence. 13 years and 2 months of imprisonment for a long series of crimes: criminal association, abuse of office, fraud to the detriment of the state, embezzlement, ideological falsehood, aiding and abetting illegal immigration. Mimmo Lucano, former mayor of Riace, is paying a very high price for his project to welcome migrants.
Too high, second Livio Pepino, former judge and former member of the CSM on the arrest of the former mayor, but also editorial director of Edizioni Gruppo Abele.
“It is an inadequate sentence to describe what happened, and this is the most serious aspect, followed by the extent of the sentence,” he explains.
Lucano is responsible for administrative irregularities and forcing.
«And it is a well known, peaceful fact. Lucano has always admitted this, so much so that his latest book, published by Feltrinelli, is called “The outlaw”. Nobody denies it. But the person concerned has always specified that these forcing and irregularities are part of a welcome project that, as Lucano has always said, “if I had followed the formal and bureaucratic dictates, I would never have been able to implement”. If he received allowances for 50 migrants and 70 arrived, he would allocate the money to 50 plus 20 people, and this can also have criminal relevance. But the problem is another ».
Which?
«That in the case of Riace, since the initial charge, the control has not been focused on any criminally relevant irregularities. Here the starting hypothesis is that it was a criminal organization, not a project to revive a country and to welcome. This is the original flaw of this process, which was then reflected in all subsequent stages. Lucano was subjected to a precautionary measure, but in my experience these processes are on the loose. For years, moreover, he and his entourage have been wiretapped, as if it were the Red Primrose. A sentence of this kind was not even reserved for the condemned of Mafia Capitale, and not even for Luca Traini, convicted of massacre. This is a penalty which, in Italy, is given, in abbreviated form, for murder. This is a sentence that claims to rewrite a positive history of hospitality in a criminal key. And I consider it very serious ».
Did you expect such a sentence?
«No: I was expecting an acquittal or conviction for some specific episodes. It could also be considered that the administrative irregularity ended in the criminal. But I didn’t expect the whole Riace experience to be doomed. Not sure, then, that it was considered a criminal association ».
In subsequent stages of trial there will be the possibility of overturning the verdict.
“Yes, the possibility exists. In the history of this trial, the criminal association had already been deemed unproven by the judge for preliminary investigations, who rejected the prosecutor’s request. The question is open, and in the next judicial stages it may be overturned: it is possible and desirable, to ensure that its real significance is restored to the affair, also from a judicial point of view ».
In your opinion, is it right to comment on this sentence and, possibly, also to be indignant?
“If it is not a question of insults or invectives, criticism of sentences is fundamental in democracies. The judiciary enjoys particular guarantees of independence. But the fact that no one can tell the magistrates what they must do risks leading to a form of arbitrariness, if there is no counterweight to public opinion. The judiciary should be the first to hope for a dialectical confrontation, to measure the external evaluations of its work and confirm or, possibly, review its positions ”.
Why was Riace’s experience considered a criminal organization?
“This is the heart of the problem. The judiciary is affected by the surrounding environment and we have been living for years in a climate of criminalization of migrants and those who take care of them. There is a kind of intolerance towards this world ».
Why this harshness towards Lucano?
“Because it became a symbol and it was the one that was exposed the most.”
Do you expect any surprises from the reasons for the sentence (which will arrive at the end of December)?
«No: the trial was public, and the elements on which the court will judge are already known, have already emerged. The motivation will serve to explain the interpretation of the court, but I exclude the emergence of elements that we do not know ”.
You know Mimmo Lucano. What kind of person is he?
«I met him in Riace and I think I can say that he is a man animated by an absolutely rare enthusiasm and altruism. This passion can lead him to imprudence, but I believe that this is a virtue, not a defect. The belief that there is a need to intervene against the least is the figure of Lucano, who has always thought of everyone except himself, in a country where personal enrichment is one of the most significant springs. If there have been administrative irregularities – even of criminal relevance -, they have been made not for personal advantages, but for a better reception ».
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