Judges in Italy have dropped charges against the former mayor of Riace, Domenico 'Mimmo' Lucano, ruling that his migration management model was not criminal. Lucano said a never-ending nightmare was finally over.
Former Riace Mayor Mimmo Lucano had been accused of irregularities in his migrant reception management back in 2018. In September 2021, he was then sentenced to over 13 years in prison on charges of criminal association, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of office.
The three-time mayor had become famous globally for his welcoming reception of refugees and migrants as well as for his local integration efforts.
However, all of the charges were dropped on appeal on October 11, except for one case of fraud from 2017. He was given a suspended sentence of one year and six months in prison for that count, which is covered by the amount of time he already has spent in custody.
For that count alone, the general prosecutor's office had request a prison term of more than 10 years.
All other 17 defendants in the case were acquitted.
Read more: Migrant-friendly Italian ex-mayor sentenced to 13 years in prison
'Mistakes were made'
The suspended sentence for fraud "was something silly", said Lucano's lawyer Giuliano Pisapia.
He added that what matters "is that it was recognized that Mimmo did everything he did for the good of humanity, for the benefit of those in need."
"He did not do anything for himself. Anyone can make small mistakes."
Lucano himself said that in trying to revive his region by welcoming migrants, "being a simple and mortal human being, it is probable that ... I made mistakes."
"But I have always acted with the aim and the will to help the weakest and to contribute to the reception and integration of children, women, and men fleeing hunger, war, and torture."
Read more: Over 90,000 signatures for Nobel Prize to Riace
'End of a humiliating nightmare'
There was applause across the packed courtroom as court president Elisabetta Palumbo read the verdict. Some even started singing the Italian protest song "Bella Ciao" as they left the court.
"This is the end of a nightmare that over the years has brought me down so much, has humiliated me, and has offended me," Lucano said upon hearing the verdict. "(A) nightmare that for years, unjustly, made me look like a delinquent in the eyes of the people."
That nightmare had begun on October 2, 2018, when he was put under house arrest by Italy's financial police as part of an investigation in what became known as the Riace model of reception.
Lucano hopes that a new chapter in his life can now begin.