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Updated October 2nd, 2021 at 16:39 IST

Italy ex-mayor who welcomed migrants on sentencing

Domenico "Mimmo" Lucano, the former mayor of Riace, a small town in the Calabria region of southern Italy, returned to his town on Friday and spoke to a supportive crowd about the 13-year prison sentence he received on Thursday for aiding illegal immigration, fraud and embezzlement.

Italy
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Domenico "Mimmo" Lucano, the former mayor of Riace, a small town in the Calabria region of southern Italy, returned to his town on Friday and spoke to a supportive crowd about the 13-year prison sentence he received on Thursday for aiding illegal immigration, fraud and embezzlement.

Holding back tears, an emotional Lucano said, "I can't take it. The streets are full of people who are outraged, they are outraged, they want to write to the Pope, to the President of the Republic, that's what they want to do."

Prosecutors alleged that Lucano facilitated marriages of convenience between Riace men and foreign women to get them permits to live in Italy. When Lucano was mayor of Riace, it was dubbed "the town of welcome" for migrants.

Lucano has denied wrongdoing and will appeal.

On Thursday a court in Locri, in Calabria convicted Lucano of aiding illegal immigration of fraud, embezzlement, criminal association and abuse of office and sentenced him to 13 years and two months in prison.

His lawyers will appeal against the sentence, which was some five years longer than prosecutors had requested. The Italian judicial system has two levels of appeals.

In 2018, Lucano was put under house arrest. He remains out of prison pending the outcome of final appeals.

IMAGE: AP

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Published October 2nd, 2021 at 16:39 IST

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