He was a boy, Alaa Faraj, in the summer of 2015. He was 20 years old, studying engineering and playing football. But his country, Libya, was torn apart by civil war. Obtaining a visa was impossible, humanitarian channels did not exist, the only way to leave was extremely dangerous: getting on a boat, at the mercy of human traffickers.
Alaa does it, he embarks with three friends, also footballers. During that desperate crossing 49 people suffocated to death in the hold. But the horror doesn’t end there: upon landing Alaa is accused of being one of the smugglers. He was definitively sentenced to 30 years in prison for multiple murders and aiding and abetting illegal immigration. Since then he has been in prison at the Ucciardone in Palermo; since then he has proclaimed his innocence, and has written a book – «Why I was a boy» (Sellerio) – which is, in a sort of epistolary dialogue with Alessandra Sciurba, professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Palermo and human rights activist, a diary of those days and these days, when his story and his voice are collected by others. Others who believe him, who dig into depositions and testimonies, who point out “the injustice hidden within justice”. So much so that on 22 December 2025 the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella granted him a partial pardon: Alaa will have to serve another nine years, perhaps, if all goes well, five. In the meantime he studied and enrolled at university. And he never stops believing in justice and solidarity.
Alaa’s story, and his book, will be discussed in Messina on Tuesday at 6pm in the main hall of the Rectorate. The meeting, promoted by Caritas and the Archdiocese of Messina, the University of Messina, Libera and Cesv, will be moderated by the journalist of the Gazzetta Anna Mallamo: after the institutional greetings of the Rector Giovanna Spatari and the auxiliary bishop Monsignor Cesare Di Pietro, Don Luigi Ciotti, founder of Libera, the jurist Gaetano Silvestri, former president of the Constitutional Court, Maria Teresa Collica, professor of Law, will intervene criminal law, Alessio Lo Giudice, professor of Philosophy of Law, and Alessandra Sciurba, who is the editor of the book; the readings will be by the actor Corrado Fortuna. Alaa Faraj will be able to participate if the competent authorities grant permission. And we all hope so.