By RFIPosted on 21-11-2019Modified on 21-11-2019 at 16:40
This young refugee had been wrongly accused of being the leader of a gang of human traffickers between Sudan and Libya. After a lengthy trial, he was acquitted and released last July, after it became clear that the person was mistaken.
On the phone, Medhanie Tesfamariam's lawyer says she is " dismayed ". " While we waste time," sighs Michele Calentropo, " the real trafficker is still at liberty. "
With the call of the public prosecutor's office in Palermo, everything will have to be resumed from scratch: the convocation of witnesses, the collection of material evidence, the arguments of the parties. A hearing of the court of appeal, in the coming months, will have to fix the date of a new trial.
At first instance, the case had occupied the court of Palermo for a little over three years, ending July 13 to an acquittal.
Identity error
From now on, the parquet floor of Palermo challenges the validity of the documents produced by the defense. In particular, an identity document and a certificate of Eritrean nationality in the name of the accused, which do not correspond to the identity of the accused. Because that was the whole problem of this trial: Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe, the man in the box, repeated that he was not Medhanie Yedhego Mered, a notorious boss in Sudan and Libya.
The court eventually acknowledged the miscarriage of justice. And more damning still, the judges of assizes, in a report of investigation, had then pointed, in October, " the lack of consistency and coherence " of an indictment considered " doubtful ".
On the same subject
Trial of Eritrean "smuggler": Italian justice recognizes mistaken identity
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