He bought train tickets for some migrants: Moroccan activist Nawal Soufi acquitted after 10 years

(ANSA) – CATANIA, APRIL 12 – The third criminal section of the Court of Catania has acquitted, because the fact does not exist, the Moroccan human rights activist Nawal Soufi who in 2014 bought train tickets at the station, headed to Milan, to some Syrian migrants who had landed in Syracuse. He was on trial for procuring illegal entry. The Prosecutor’s Office had also asked for his acquittal. The defense was associated with the request, with the lawyer Rosa Emanuela Lo Faro: “solidarity – commented the criminal lawyer – can never constitute a crime and non-profit activity in favor of migrants is a noble action that must be followed by each of us.” “From the interceptions in the documents – writes the Court in the sentence – the clear humanitarian interest that permeated the entire activity of Nawal emerges, which was a point of reference for the migrants, to whom it also provided encouragement. It can therefore concretely be argued that today’s defendant acted without any profit motive and out of a purely humanitarian spirit, providing her rescue and assistance activities to foreigners seeking asylum in the territory of the State. For these reasons – conclude the judges – no aiding and abetting contribution can be identified to illegal immigration by today’s accused, who must be acquitted because the fact does not exist”. In the summer of 2014 Nawal Soufi received the ‘Frontier Woman’ award as part of the Frontiera international film festival in Marzamemi (Syracuse). The young activist who lives in Catania where she arrived with her parents more than 30 years ago has been a point of reference for the many migrants who arrive in Sicily. (HANDLE).