Court of Appeal of Brescia, 24 September 2019, judgment no. 1350 (Italy)

According to the Court of Appeal of Brescia, a Nigerian claimant fleeing homophobia made all reasonable efforts to prove his well-founded fear of persecution, whereas no insurmountable contradictions emerge from his personal account, if not on minor or irrelevant aspects of his life in Nigeria. In particular, the Territorial Commission and the first-instance judge were wrong in declaring the claimant ‘not credible’ on the grounds that he lives homosexuality only in its ‘physical dimension’ with no interest in establishing a stable and emotional same-sex relationship. For these reasons, and considering the current treatment of LGBTIQ+ people in Nigeria, he should have recognized refugee status.