Rob Lawrie’s trial in France starts Jan. 14. What’s his crime?
Trying to bring an Afghan girl to her relatives in the U.K.
The Associated Press reports that Lawrie’s charge — aiding illegal immigration — carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine.
According to the Associated Press:
He said he bonded with "Bru" — the girl's nickname — after he volunteered to help design and build shelters at the squalid camp in Calais that is home to about 4,200 people fleeing war and poverty.
"She left Afghanistan, with her father via traffickers, when she was less than 3," he said. "It's incomprehensible. The reason I became so close is I never once saw her without a smile on her face."
He said he could no longer leave her in a cold, dangerous and unsanitary camp when she had family waiting for her living close by his home in northern England.
Thousands have signed an online petition, urging the British government to appeal to France for clemency.
According to The Independent, the girl, Bahar Ahmadi, remains in the Calais refugee camp with her father, Reza.
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