The Court of Appeal of Catanzaro this afternoon almost entirely confirmed the first instance ruling of the Crotone Court which concerned some lawyers, agents and cultural mediators accused of having facilitated the entry of non-EU citizens into Italy through a series of false permits issued have to immigrants.
The professionals had been involved in the Ikaros operation, carried out on 17 February 2021 by the Crotone Flying Squad. In particular, two different organizations that used the same methods were highlighted.
At first instance the sentences had been imposed, for various reasons, for criminal association and for having favored the presence of illegal immigrants in Italy through residence permits which, according to the Crotone Prosecutor’s Office, were obtained illegally by affixing false signatures.
The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence imposed on the lawyer Salvatore Andrea Falcone who was acquitted of 61 charges out of the 94 he was accused of: the sentence went from 10 years and 2 months to 5 years and 6 months. The sentence for the lawyer Gabriella Panucci, on whom the Appeal inflicted 4 years, 6 months and 15 days, was also reduced by two months due to the acquittal on two counts. Four years is the redetermined sentence for the cultural mediators Rachida Lebkhachi (6 years in first instance) and Edris Mahmouzadeh (4 years and 15 days in first instance).
The other appeals from both the defense and the prosecutor’s office were rejected. The sentences therefore remain for the lawyers Sergio Trolio (4 years and 3 months) and Irene Trocino (5 years and 4 months), for the Iranian Mohammed Kasro (4 years and 8 months), for Intzar Ahmed (1 year and 6 months ), for the local police officer Alfonso Bennardis (9 months).
