Jailed Somali people smuggler compared to a Nazi camp guard

AN ITALIAN court has jailed for life a Somali people smuggler who raped, tortured and murdered migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa.

Osman Matammud, 22, was found guilty at the Court of Assizes in Milan of multiple counts of murder, abduction for ransom and sexual violence.

He was arrested a year ago after he was recognised in a migrant reception centre in Milan as he tried to pass himself off as an asylum seeker.

His trial revealed the squalid conditions at a transit camp at Bani Walid in the Libyan desert and violent abuse endured by migrants trying to reach Italy. Prosecutors compared Matammud’s reign of terror to that of a Nazi concentration camp guard.

One of 17 witnesses, a teenage girl, said: “The first night, he grabbed me and ripped off my clothes. He penetrated me. I fainted and when I came to, there was blood everywhere. I was raped many times by him, every night.”

Matammud denied all the charges and his lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.