Ten years without Andy Rocchelli. The father: «Pavia doesn’t forget, thank you»

PAVIA. His city has not forgotten and does not want to forget Andy Rocchellithe photojournalist killed together with the human rights activist Andrei Mironov, in Sloviansk in Donbass, Ukraine on May 24, 2014, exactly ten years ago. More than two years have passed since the end of the trial which defined the responsibility of the Ukrainian armed forces in the double crime, which however remained went unpunished with the acquittal of the Ukrainian National Guard soldier Vitalii Markiv due to a formal flaw. The man who actually killed the two. Now the Rocchelli family has appealed to the International Criminal Court in The Haguebut the fear is that the wait will still be long, given the contingent situation between Russia and Ukraine.

Witnesses at war

Andy, Andrei and photographer William Roguelon, who survived the attack (and which could at the last minute manage to be present today in Pavia, at the Kosmos Museum), they were in Donbass precisely because they understood that it was not just a local crisis, but that part of the future of the continent was at stake there. And they weren’t wrong. That was in fact the prelude to the ordeal that is being experienced today in those areas. However, precisely since the Russian invasion onwards, the Rocchelli case and the conclusions of the Italian judiciary have entered a cone of shadow: with rare exceptions the story has become taboo in the media while Italian institutions have evaded the problem as if it were a politically inappropriate issue. This despite the Court held corrected the summoning of the Ukrainian state to court as civilly liable because the immunity provided for states does not apply in the case of violations of human rights and crimes against humanity. Today he is talking Rino Rocchelli, Andy’s fatherwho with her mother Elisa Signori has been fighting for ten years for justice to be done.

«It is very nice that Pavia has not forgotten our son – says Rino Rocchelli – I thank everyone, also for the initiative of display photos outside the windows of institutions and private individuals. It was actually my daughter’s idea Lucia and he immediately found me favorable. My wife, however, was initially perplexed. We did everything in an artisanal way, trying to limit ourselves but already after two or three days we had to block the requests because they were too many. So let’s say that the photos on display, which testify to Andy’s passion, could have been many, many more.”

Search for justice

Clearly the issue that is most important to dad Rino at the moment is to one day succeed in… have justice for Andy. And the sort of oblivion into which the whole issue seems to have fallen with the war between Russia and Ukraine is painful. «We will start again from the Court of The Hague, but the problem is understanding when – he explains – everything is complicated. After ten years it seems like we have to start over every timeeven if in reality we should have reached 95 percent of the story, given that the sentences are still indicated in the sentence responsibility of the Ukrainian state. But the people in charge who gave orders on May 24th have become important figures in their country, so it’s all very complex».

However, not stopping talking about it, also thanks to the initiatives underway today in Pavia, is important to keep attention alive. «It is not only the anniversaries that must keep the memory alive – she concludes – but these events certainly help to talk about a case that is not yet closed, but deserves to be. Like others, just think of the Ilaria Alpi affair. The statistics say that only one case in fifty manages to be closed, when they involve killings of photojournalists intent on telling uncomfortable truths. We hope at least that the sacrifice of many, like my son, can serve to make impunity more difficult for those who commit these crimes.” —