French farmer who aided refugees gets suspended fine

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - A French farmer who helped around 60 African refugees cross from Italy to France was fined €3,000 ($3,200) suspended for eight months on Friday, local media reported.

Cedric Herrou, 37, was convicted of assisting the entrance of illegal migrants and housing them, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail. However, the prosecutor had requested an eight-month suspended sentence, Le Figaro newspaper said.

He housed the undocumented refugees in caravans on his hillside farm in the Roya valley in south-east France over a period of two years. His olive farm sits on the border with Italy, near a popular route for refugees entering France.

"We'll continue our action and the threats of a prefect and the insults of one or two politicians won't stop us," Herrou told supporters and reporters outside the court in Nice before the hearing.

"We'll continue because it is necessary to continue."

Rights groups said Herrou's case was one of a growing number of "crimes of solidarity" in which people have helped migrants and minority groups.

Last month, university researcher Pierre-Alain Mannoni was acquitted of similar charges by the same court.