Imam Mohamed Shahin has left the Caltanissetta CPR, in compliance with the Turin Court of Appeal's decision to terminate his detention there. The imam was issued a temporary residence permit by the Caltanissetta Police Headquarters.
The judges upheld one of the appeals filed by the man's lawyers, who argued that, even in light of new documentation, there were no grounds for arguing for state safety or public order.
The imam had been hit by an expulsion order signed by Minister Matteo Piantedosi for reasons of public order and safety.
The Court's decision, specifically, is to "terminate the detention in the CPR," ordered by the Turin police commissioner during one of the proceedings on November 24. The judges, after examining the "new elements that have emerged," ruled out "the existence of a concrete and present danger." They also emphasized that Shahin has been in Italy for twenty years and has a "completely clean criminal record."
Among the "new elements" presented by the imam's lawyers was the immediate dismissal, by the Turin prosecutor's office, of a complaint regarding comments the man had made last October during a Pro Pal demonstration.
On Saturday, from Turin to Rome, the same supporters of Palestinian protesters had taken to the streets for him. "We are here because one of our comrades, one of our brothers, an innocent man," the organizers of 'Turin for Gaza' declared at the microphone, "is locked up in the CPR. Mohamed has walked with us for years in the streets calling for a free Palestine. He is a man who, in over twenty years here, has demonstrated what solidarity means, always standing with the least fortunate. The entire city has made it clear that they want Mohamed back, because he represents a pillar of our faith: he is being punished for choosing not to look the other way."
Several times along the route, protesters emphasized that the imam was paying for "having stated inconvenient things" and urged the Region and Municipality to intervene for his release. But for Minister Piantedosi, who spoke at Atreju over the weekend, the matter "has nothing to do with his being an imam, and nothing to do with Islam ." Rather, it is due to "certain associations and certain behaviors that, for reasons of national security, led the authorities to subject him to that measure."
(Unioneonline)
