A French court sentenced two pro-migration activists to two-month suspended prison sentences after they aided Afghans crossing the border illegally.
The Gap Correctional Court sentenced the two activists, aged 28 and 31, after finding them both guilty of “assisting the entry into France of irregular persons” after the pair had aided an Afghan family crossing over from Italy on November 19th last year.
The prosecutor of the Republic of Gap, Florent Crouhy pursued the case against the activists but stated that they should not be compared to people-traffickers who “take advantage of poverty”, France Info reports.
At the same time as the trial for the pair of activists, an appeal was taking place in the city of Grenoble for a group of seven pro-migration activists also convicted of helping illegals to cross into France.
The “Seven of Briançon” were found guilty of aiding illegal migration during a demonstration against the anti-mass migration youth group Generation Identitaire (Generation Identity, or GI), who had blocked the Col de l’Échelle pass near the Italian border as part of their “Defend Europe” campaign in April of 2018.
The pro-migration activists are appealing their sentences, stating that they had engaged in a “spontaneous demonstration” in response to the blocking of the border by Generation Identitaire.
Earlier this month, a French court approved a move by the government of President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve GI after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin claimed the group “promotes an ideology inciting hatred and violence.”
In recent weeks, countries on the borders of the European Union have seen a new surge in migrant arrivals, and the Hungarian government warned earlier this week that the European Union need to refocus on the growing migrant crisis.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.