Former Italian Mayor Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Aiding Immigrants

Domenico Lucano was the mayor of Riace, Italy (Wikimedia).

Federal judges sentenced Domenico Lucano, the former mayor of the small town of Riace, in Calabria, Italy, to a 13-year prison sentence on September 30. Residents of Riace and Italians across the country have protested his arrest over the past week. Lucano has been indicted since April 2019—this indictment, and the charges that led to his sentence, were specifically for abuse of power and aiding illegal immigration.

Some of Lucano’s specific policies that ultimately resulted in his sentence included the introduction of a new, local currency that could be exchanged for euros with the municipal government and the use of federal funding to rebuild homes to improve the living standards for migrants. This attracted controversy because it is a government improvement of what will become private property. The Italian court, which sentenced Lucano, also ordered him to reimburse 500,000 euros ($580,000) of EU funds that he and the municipal government had used over the years. 

Since his first election in 2004, Lucano’s policy platform has centered around welcoming refugees and undocumented immigrants into the town, to both settle down and contribute to the local economy in their process of seeking legal asylum. Lucano directed government funding to construct and repair housing, pay bills, develop infrastructure, grant healthcare and schooling to residents, help run local artisan shops, and  advise migrants in completing paperwork.

He held the position of mayor until he was arrested in 2018. After Lucano was placed under house arrest by the Italian government, more than 6,000 residents took to the streets in solidarity with their mayor.

Daniel Yaboah, a resident of Riace and immigrant from Ghana, said of Lucano that “he helped me and many others in need” and that “[Lucano’s sentence] is not justice.” 

In the wake of Lucano’s 2018 removal from office, his model for Riace has begun to crumble, as the town has depopulated and the strength of the model’s institutions has weakened. In addition, for many migrants, Riace had not been a place for permanent settlement; instead, it has served as a welcoming, safe, and tight-knit respite for migrants fleeing war-torn countries or poverty. Now, however, there is hope for the town to begin to thrive again, as new agricultural and industrial developments have brought fresh money in, and there seem to be the benefits of a second wind, giving the town some new life and revitalization.

For Lucano, a second wind seems more bleak, with his future reliant upon a legal appeal and his prospects for higher office essentially shattered. Following the sentence, Lucano told reporters, "I spent my life chasing ideals... I sided with the least fortunate.”