SAN FERDINANDO -- Around 100 migrants have taken to the streets in this Calabrian town to protest the shooting of a young Malian migrant by a Carabiniere on Wednesday.  Whilst tension is high, and the incident has generated an extreme amount of anger, no violent episodes have currently been reported.

 The shooting occurred on Wednesday in the San Ferdinando campsite, which is home to thousands of immigrants during winter months, as they are engaged in Gioia Tauro’s orange harvest.

 Along with a colleague, the military policeman intervened to stop a fight between two migrants, at which point 27-year-old Sekine Traore drew a knife and wounded the Carabiniere who reacted instantly in a move that the protesting migrants are calling "excessive for legitimate defence."

 According to the first reconstruction of events by Palmi Public Prosecutor Ottavio Sferlazza and the Reggio Calabria Carabinieri division’s Chief of Command, it appears that the two young men were arguing because one had tried to rob the other.  When the Carabinieri intervened to try and restore calm, it seems that Traore drew a knife and wounded one of the soldiers, possibly with a blow to the head, who then drew his gun and shot the young man.

 “The Carabiniere who killed the immigrant must be entered into the register of suspects as a legal obligation to guarantee the rights of the defence, in relation to the autopsy that will be performed on the victim’s body, but the picture that has emerged thus far is that of self-defence by the soldier,” said Sferlazza.  He continued, “According to our reconstruction, based on witness testimonies, there was an initially intimidating attitude by the immigrant towards the policeman, which became concretely aggressive, with a knife wound to the face.  The Carabiniere also tried in vain to calm the migrant down.”

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