Sher Ghani

Sher Ghani was born in Swabi, Pakistan, on January 30, 1958, and arrived in Italy in 1992. He became an Italian citizen in 2011. He was living in Civitanova Marche (MC) and worked as a clothing retailer. According to court documents, his sons were expelled from Italy in 2015 for jihadist propaganda. Ghani was arrested in April 2015 and subjected to precautionary custody order. He was accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, and of being part of a criminal association composed of several individuals of Pakistani origins across Italy, who trafficked people into Italy illegally and helped them stay by providing them with fake documents or job permits. His arrest was part of a broader operation of the DIGOS to apprehend members of a terrorist cell close to al-Qaeda and other jihadist organisations, operating between Olbia and Rome under the direction of Sultan Wali Khan.
Sher Ghani was charged with transnational criminal association and promoting and facilitating illegal immigration from 2005, under Article 416 of the Italian Penal Code, and Law 4 of March 16, 2006, no. 146. According to the prosecution, he worked alongside Sultan Wali Khan and Imitias Khan to secure employment contracts for illegal immigrants coming to Italy. They also had intermediaries in Pakistan who connected migrants with the Italian handlers. In April 2010, Sher Ghani was allegedly involved in the trafficking of fifty-three individuals. He had a sophisticated system in place involving work contracts in Avezzano, which were bought by Smail Kaddour. Kaddour paid €3000 to farmers for these contracts, while Ghani made a profit of €10,000 per contract. Each contract was sold for €6000.
Ghani was also charged under Article 12 of the Italian Immigration Law (D.Lgs. 286/1998), for aiding and abetting the illegal immigration of Ibrahim Khan and a man named Tanveer, through Italy first and then into another European country, in September 2010. In September 2009, Ibrahim Khan contacted Sultan Wali Khan, stating that Sher Ghani had given him Khan’s number, instructing him to secure documents to enter Italy. Sultan Wali Khan then referred him to Imitias Khan, who informed Ibrahim that the documents would cost between €5000 and €6000. This exchange highlights Ghani’s role as a facilitator.
Sher Ghani’s activities extended into terrorism-related support, although he was not formally charged for this. This emerged in relations to phone conversations with Gulbar Khan and Sher Dil in 2009, where they discussed a fundraiser aimed at supporting the families of martyrs in Pakistan. In the spring of 2010, the Olbia terrorist cell, of which Ghani was supposedly part, was planning a terrorist act involving a suicide bomber who had been brought to Italy for martyrdom. However, the operation was disrupted due to searches by DIGOS, causing Ghani and others to distance themselves from the bomber. On March 15, 2010, Imitias Khan informed Sultan Wali Khan that Mushtaq Ali had arrived in Rome “with the kamikaze,” referring to the suicide bomber. Ghani and his associates became increasingly worried as police intervention loomed, leading SW Khan to instruct Imitias to make certain individuals, including Siyar Khan and Tanveer, disappear. These individuals were associated with the planned suicide bombing, with Tanveer specifically identified as the person Sultan wanted “to go.” The Tribunal of Sassari concluded that while there was significant suspicion and circumstantial evidence regarding the arrival of a person believed to be a potential suicide bomber, there was not enough concrete evidence to confirm this. Conversations between the defendant and others, suggested that someone named Mushtaq and Tanveer arrived in Italy with a possible kamikaze, but the exact details of his stay, activities, and intentions remained unclear, and there was insufficient evidence regarding linking Ghani directly to Tanveer.
On April 13, 2019, the Assizes Court of Sassari declared Sher Ghani guilty of being part of a criminal association promoting and facilitating illegal immigration. He was sentenced to four years in prison.