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http://www.connexionfrance.com/court-illegal-immigrants-migrants-nice-cleared-helping-women-italy-Eritrean-suspended-sentence-view-article.html 

Man cleared for helping migrants 

January 08, 2017 

A MAN has been acquitted of helping migrants sneak into the country illegally from Italy. 

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) researcher Pierre-Alain Mannoni faced a six-month suspended sentence for helping three Eritrean migrants who had entered France from Italy. 

But a judge in Nice ruled that the 45-year-old had helped three women to 'protect their dignity'. Under a 2012 law, anyone who helps smuggle people into France is protected from prosecution if they do it for no money and if the lives of those they help are considered to be in danger. 

"The court recognised that I had acted to preserve their dignity, and that is not wrong, that's what is important," Mr Mannoni told reporters outside the court. "This is a great victory for people who want to help and also for all those who need help." 

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said on Facebook that the court's decision was, 'an insult to the work of the security forces who risk their lives to protect ours', and claimed that terrorists had disguised themselves as migrants to enter France. 

Prosecutors have said that they intend to appeal against the ruling. 

Mr Mannoni is one of three people in the southeast France to appear in court for illegally assisting migrants - and the cases are attracting huge interest in the year of the presidential election. 

Up to 200 supporters, including politician Cécile Duflot were outside court when he went on trial in November, while an online petition has collected nearly 70,000 signatures and nearly €8,800 has been crowdfunded to cover his legal costs. 

He was in his car with three Eritrean women, one of whom was under the age of 18, when he was arrested near Menton on October 18, 2016. The women had briefly stayed at his home and he planned to put them on a train to Marseille. 

"They were afraid, they were cold, they were exhausted," he said in an article published on the Mediapart website a few days after he was released on police bail under strict conditions. "They had bandages on their hands and legs, one of them was limping and grimacing in pain, another could not carry her bag because of a hand injury." 

Farmer Cedric Herrou, meanwhile, faces an eight-month suspended sentence for hiding 50 Eritrean migrants in a disused holiday village. About 300 supporters were outside the court for the hearing on Wednesday, January 4. 

In court, the farmer defended his actions, saying he 'had to do it'. He said: "There are people who have died on the road; there are families who are suffering; there is a State that has put in place borders and does not deal with the consequences." A decision on the case is due on February 10. 

In December, an appeals court in Aix-en-Provence upheld a fine of €1,500 that had previously been imposed on a 73-year-old retired professor found guilty of helping two Eritreans avoid a police check. 

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Frenchman acquitted of aiding migrants 

AFP 
Vincent-Xavier Morvan

Nice (France) (AFP) - A French court on Friday acquitted a man for helping migrants sneak into the country from Italy as immigration issues play a major role ahead of this year's elections. 

"In France today we have the right to save people in distress," said researcher Pierre-Alain Mannoni, who had faced a six-month suspended jail sentence for aiding Eritrean migrants who came into France from Italy. 

The prosecutor said during the trial in November in the southern city of Nice that people had a "duty" to help people, "but not help (illegal immigrants) to stay and circulate" in the country. 

The judge ruled Friday that the 45-year-old researcher at French national research centre CNRS had helped three young Eritrean women to "protect their dignity". 

A law in effect since 2012 grants immunity to people smugglers who are not paid and if the lives of their charges are considered in peril. 

"You can help people," Mannoni said after the ruling. "I recommend it, it does a lot of good!" 

He is one of three people in the area to appear in court recently for illegally assisting migrants travelling up through Europe after crossing the Mediterranean in rickety boats. 

- Folk hero - 

Their cases have pitched the spirit of solidarity against the letter of the law at a time when border controls and migration have become hot political issues. 

The right-wing president of the Riviera region, Christian Estrosi, has repeatedly criticised activists who help migrants. 

He said on Facebook that Friday's ruling was "an insult to the work of the security forces who put their life in danger to protect ours." 

Estrosi added that some jihadists had been able to enter France after passing themselves off as migrants. 

Mannoni was arrested at a toll booth near the southern town of Menton in October with the three Eritreans including a minor that he wanted to lodge. 

Another activist, farmer Cedric Herrou, appeared in the Nice court on Wednesday facing an eight-month suspended prison term for moving some 50 Eritreans into a disused holiday village owned by the state. 

Security forces emptied the camp after three days. 

In addition to the suspended sentence, public prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre called for Herrou's vehicle to be confiscated and for his driving licence to be restricted to driving only for professional use. 

Herrou, 37, has become something of a folk hero around the French-Italian border for driving migrants across the frontier, under the noses of the French police, and then putting them up. 

The verdict in his case is expected on February 10. 

In early December an appeals court in Aix-en-Provence upheld a fine of 1,500 euros ($1,580) against a 73-year-old retired professor for helping two Eritreans avoid a police check. 

The controversy comes less than four months ahead of the first round of France's presidential elections. 

The Socialist government came under harsh criticism for allowing the infamous "Jungle" migrant camp to develop near the northern port of Calais, which the authorities finally closed in October.