Rome: The Italian president has granted a partial pardon to a Libyan citizen, reducing his prison sentence in a high-profile case involving the deaths of migrants in 2015. This decision has sparked discussions on the management of migration issues in the Mediterranean.
According to Libyan News Agency, President Sergio Mattarella granted the partial pardon to Alaa Faraj Abdel Karim Hamad, a Libyan citizen who was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison for his involvement in the Ferragosto massacre. The tragedy saw 49 migrants suffocate inside the hold of a ship departing from Libya. The decree, signed with the approval of the Minister of Justice, reduces Hamad's sentence by 11 years and four months, bringing it down to 19 years. This reduction does not lead to his immediate release.
The partial pardon permits the gradual use of benefits guaranteed by Italian law within prisons, including parole and alternative measures, contingent on good behavior and mitigating circumstances. Claudia Gazzini, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, clarified to Nova News Agency that while this is not a release, it does reduce the sentence and could mean more involvement in a rehabilitation program.
The origins of the case date back to August 2015 when Alaa Faraj, then a teenager, embarked from Libya to Europe with around 390 others on a fishing boat. The journey turned tragic as 49 migrants, mainly from Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa, died due to asphyxiation from engine fumes and lack of oxygen. The Italian Navy intercepted the vessel and found the deceased as survivors were being transferred.
Nova News Agency reported that Faraj, along with other young Libyans, was initially heard as a witness before being convicted. This conviction faced objections from defense teams and civil society organizations, who questioned the evidence and alleged racial profiling. The organization Sea-Watch also criticized the charges as being based on weak evidence.
During his incarceration, Faraj pursued education and authored a book, "Why I Was a Boy," which, according to the agency, fueled calls for clemency from academic and civil society groups. However, the partial pardon does not apply to other defendants in the case. Gazzini, speaking to Nova News Agency, suggested that the pardon might indirectly influence legal precedent regarding prisoner conditions and entitlements in Italy.
The agency highlighted that the case is politically and diplomatically linked to a prisoner transfer agreement between Italy and Libya, signed in Palermo in 2023. The partial pardon is seen as a political and humanitarian gesture that could reopen debates on punishment proportionality and migration management in the region.