CRIMINALISATION Italian charity leader acquitted of smuggling charges Andrea Costa, head of Rome-based charity reception centre Baobab, was acquitted of migrant smuggling charges on 3 May, after helping some migrants travel by bus to the French border in 2016. The Baobab reception center had been cleared a few days before, and several migrants were being transferred to a centre for identification. Before the acquittal, Costa was risking up to 18 years in jail. New report finds EU law criminalises solidarity with migrants In a new briefing paper, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) shows that the criminalisation of assistance can deter help towards migrants, thus depriving them of vital support. The EU legal framework, especially the 2002 EU Facilitation Directive, is found to breach international law, in that it allows the criminalisation of intentional assistance to migrants under the premise of migrant smuggling. ICJ recommends introducing strict requirements around the “intention of gaining profit” and a mandatory non-criminalisation of humanitarian assistance in this Directive. Three Syrian refugees sentenced to 439 years of prison for steering the boat Three Syrian refugees were facing life sentences after their boat capsized when trying to reach Italy from Turkey, which resulted in the deaths of 18 people. Despite dropping the charges for murder and recognising that they did not act for profit nor did they belong to any criminal organisation, they were accused of “facilitating unauthorised entry” and sentenced to 187 years (as “captain”) and 126 years each as the “mechanic” and the “assistant,” according to Borderline Europe. In recent years many migrants trying to reach Europe have been accused of human smuggling for steering boats and sentenced to life-long imprisonment in Greece.