Turin, Piazza San Carlo trial: for the Court of Cassation, Appendino’s sentence should be reduced but criminal responsibility remains

Penalty to be reduced, but criminal liability remains. This is the judgment of the Supreme Court on the position of the former mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino at the trial for the events in Piazza San Carlo.

The vice president of the 5 Star Movement was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the proceedings in which, depending on the positions, the crimes of disaster, murder and negligent injury are hypothesized.

It is an imbalance that I struggle to understand and accept: the Municipality and the Mayors cannot continue to be the scapegoat for everything, from public safety to smog (for which, in a few hours, I will have to face a new trial). The former mayor of Turin wrote it on Facebook Chiara Appendino commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgment on the Piazza San Carlo trial in which she was accused. “A short while ago the judges of the Court of Cassation rejected my appeal against the sentence for the tragedy in Piazza San Carlo, although establishing that the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal must be reduced. Even today, over 7 years later, I carry with me the pain and anguish of that cursed night in which four robbers armed with pepper spray triggered panic in the square. A wicked act for which they are serving a 10-year sentence for manslaughter – continues Appendino -.

Since then I have never stopped turning my thoughts to the people involved and their families and I believe that the pain I feel will never disappear. Out of respect for those who lost their lives or were injured that evening, as well as for the institutions I represented and represent, I have always defended myself in the trial and never from the trial. And today I accept the decision of the Court of Cassation but, at the same time, I cannot hide from you a sense of bitterness”, explains Appendino. The former mayor underlines that “with the judicial process substantially concluded, I think I can say what I think, especially with regards to the distribution of responsibilities between the institutions. In fact, from this process it emerges that the only body held responsible for those incidents is the Municipality (and me as Mayor), while all the other institutional subjects involved in various capacities in the organization and management of public safety, i.e. Police Headquarters and Prefecture , have been dismissed or acquitted at various levels of trial.

The question I ask myself is: who, given this precedent, will still be willing to make themselves available to their community as first citizen? What I hope is that a healthy reflection can be started on this point between all the political forces and the government. To date, the countless warnings of Anci and the appeal signed by thousands of mayors of all political stripes have remained unheard. I conclude by heartily thanking my family, my lawyers and all the people who have been close to me in this difficult journey and reiterating my sincere closeness and solidarity to the families of the victims who will remain forever in my heart”, concludes Appendino.

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