The Spanish city honored two Senegal migrants for his heroism trying to save a gay man who beat a homophobic mob to death.
Ibrahima Diack and Magatte N’Diaye on Monday received a “adopted sons of the city” in Coruña in a formal ceremony that recognized their actions.
The men were the only ones who intervened in July 2021, when Samuel Luiz set up a group of men and hit and hit in front of a nightclub in the northwestern city.
Later, the 24-year-old died of injuries at a hospital-tower that caused national anger and condemnation.
On Monday, at a solemn ceremony in the City Council Hall, Mayor Inés Rey described the actions of migrants as “pure heroism”.
The recordings of that night showed the other passers -by, some shooting on their cell phones, and the two of them are the only ones who intervened.
“That the two unfathomable migrants were the only ones who were physically risked to help the victim of a package that was thirsty for horror leaves a lot of thought and a series of lessons,” said Mayor Rey.
“Thank you for the example of the risk of everything despite having a lot to lose,” said another councilor, Rosalía López, on Instagram in the post of distribution of a video of the ceremony.
Mr. Diack and Mr. N’Diaye lived in a cityless city and did an irregular job, bringing them to the risk of arrest and deportation if they come into contact with the authorities.
But both on Monday said they had just done what they thought was the right thing to try to stop violence. In front of a bunch of participants in the City Hall on Monday, the mayor handed them plaques that assigned them the status of “adopted sons of Coruña”.
“We are not heroes, we did what we had to do,” Mr. N’Diaye said, according to the AFP report.
Mr. Diack said, “I was born in a family that doesn’t have much … but they gave me many things more valuable than money. They gave me respect, education and above all, values.”
The two were also crucial witnesses at the trial of Mr. Luiz’s killers, the Spanish media reported.
The jury declared four men guilty of murder, and the court ordered the fines between 10 and 24 years. The court found that the main accused was sentenced to a 24 -year sentence – he shouted homophobic insults during the attack.
Tens of thousands of migrants reach Spain every year illegally through the transitions of boats across the Atlantic – with the most common arrivals from Mali, Senegal and Morocco.
