31-Year-Old Italian Sentenced to Life in Egypt for Drug Dealing, Brother Says "Italy Help Us"

Giacomo Passeri, a 31-year-old from Pescara, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt for drug possession .

The man, arrested a year ago, was sentenced today by a court in Cairo: " We are still in shock, they told us that my brother was sentenced to life imprisonment, with 25 years to serve in Egypt ", said his brother Andrea, asking for help from the Italian government.

In recent months, the family of the young man from Pescara had already raised the alarm about Giacomo's "inhuman" detention conditions , and he had even started a hunger strike to protest the treatment he received and the length of the proceedings.

Passeri's brothers said they stopped having direct contact with him on August 23 last year. Since then, there has been only one phone call saying he was in prison and a few letters describing how he had been mistreated and given poor medical care after undergoing an operation to remove his appendix .

Passeri lives in London and was on holiday last August 23, when he was arrested. For the possession of a small quantity of marijuana for personal use, his family claims .

There had also been a parliamentary question on the case by Avs MP Marco Grimaldi, according to whom it was " a story of denied human rights, detained without translators, interrogated without lawyers ".

And while many are calling for the Italian government to intervene, the Farnesina explains: "The Egyptian authorities accuse Mr. Passeri of having found him in possession of a significant quantity of narcotics, including numerous ovules, ingested by him, also containing narcotics, and for this reason, they have convicted him of international drug trafficking. While waiting for the publication of the ruling, the lawyer has already informed the Embassy of his intention to appeal. The Embassy, in close coordination with the Farnesina, is continuing to follow the case with the utmost attention, through constant contact with the lawyer of the compatriot and has asked the competent Egyptian authorities to authorize a consular visit to the prison as a matter of urgency, to provide all necessary assistance", concludes the press release.

(Unioneonline/L)