“On March 1st I received a call that upset my penitentiary, because they told me ‘Come on, you have a call from the White House’“. Chico Forti said this during the recording of ‘Cinque Minuti’, which will be broadcast this evening on Rai1. “The first person who spoke to me was the Italian ambassador in Washington, she told me ‘I’m here with President Biden and the prime minister, the prime minister would like to speak to you’, and I was given the announcement by Giorgia Meloni. I thanked her regardless of what the outcome was, and there she gave me the news, ‘we’ve finally managed to convince him, come home’.”
“You live precisely for this: if you are convinced of your innocence you have the strength to carry on, day by day, you don’t think about 24 years, I never thought about it, I always thought about the next day. If you believe in yourself and you have principles, you find the strength to carry on, if you don’t believe in yourself you either commit suicide or change your life”.
The difference between American prisons and Italian ones
“Impossible to describe. In prison in Miami you are humiliated for every action you do and it is done to remind you that you are punished for something you have done, because the principle is that if you are inside the prison you have done something and you deserve to be punished.” “In Rebibbia and here in Verona I have come to know values that I hadn’t found it for 24 years: human values, relationships, respect, it’s a difference like night and day“, added Forti. “They welcomed me like a king, I received a lot of respect and, a small note, the first person who welcomed me told me ‘there is the commander who wants to speak to you’, I thought it was a person from the penitentiary, instead Schettino showed up. I have cellmates who help me, I left the United States with nothing, not even socks”. It’s as if I had been “frozen for 24 years, but my emotions and desire to live have not changed”, added Forti. “You live precisely for this: if you are convinced of your innocence you have the strength to carry on, day by day, you don’t think about 24 years, I never thought about it, I always thought about the next day. If you believe in yourself and have principles, you find the strength to carry on, if you don’t believe in yourself you either commit suicide or change your life.”
“My mother is my rock”
“My mother my rock. It was my strength, my energy. The look in his eyes, normally a 96 year old person, the eyes fade but his remain, you can see the fireworks in his eyes, the joy in his look, more than any hug or any kiss it was a wonderful moment. And then she always told me that ‘I will do everything to wait for you’.”
“Pike’s brother did something real for me”
The brother of Dale Pike, the victim of the murder for which Chico Forti was convicted and who for four years he has been forcefully saying that Chico is innocent“he took great steps to help me talk about my innocence. I believe there is a moment in each of us where conscience prevails. He never attacked me in the beginning, but he never defended me either. I believe he has reached a moment , perhaps also because of my mother’s speech, both families suffered a lot, in which he decided to do something concretewriting to the president of the United States, writing to the governor of Florida is an important step for the victim’s family.”
