A judge in the north-western Italian city of Turin acquitted 18 left-wing activists who had trespassed on public property because evidence at the trial showed that they helped migrants who were trying to reach the border with France.
A judge in Turin has acquitted 18 persons who illegally occupied a former roadman's house in Oulx, in Alta Valle Susa, in Piedmont, north-west Italy, with the objective of assisting those who faced major challenges as they tried to cross the border with France.
The Turin judge ruled that the trespassing charge was committed. However, she acquitted the 18 defendants for the "minor nature of the offence."
In the motivations of the sentence, the magistrate said that, in order to evaluate the conduct of the defendants, it was necessary to take into account the "undeniable role of support which managing the occupied property provided" to the refugees and migrants, complementing "initiatives organized by institutions and private" organizations.
The period concerned was between 2018 and 2019, when the migration route moved from Ventimiglia to Alta Valle di Susa.
Freezing temperatures, 30 dead since 2014
After listening to several witnesses presented by the defence, the judge described the situation as a constant flow of people who were trying to reach France, at times with freezing temperatures and snow, without adequately warm clothes and without knowing the risks of such a journey, including hypothermia, dehydration and lack of food.
Associations estimate that at least 30 people have died since 2014 while trying to cross the border along that route.
In this situation, on December 9, 2018, activists broke into the former roadman's house in Oulx and turned it into a "self-managed shelter".
63 people, including families with children, hosted by shelter
On March 23, 2018, another group of activists did the same thing in a building owned by the parish of Claviere (in this case they were acquitted by a court because no complaint was filed).
In an area nearby, a shelter called Massi was opened on September 17 that year, managed by the Salesians, which was however "only open at night and could host a maximum of 20-30 people."
Although conditions were precarious, the house in Oulx hosted more people, including families with children.
A total of 63 people were in the building when it was cleared by security forces in March 2021, after a meticulous investigation carried out by Carabinieri police.
At the end of that year, the Massi facility was fitted to house more people -- up to 70.