The appeal process must be repeated, and the sentence must be lighter than the 18 months in prison decided at second instance. But Chiara Appendino’s criminal responsibility is “irrevocable”, as regards the events in Piazza San Carlo, in Turin, in 2017. The Court of Cassation decided this.
For Chiara Appendino, former mayor of Turin, there will be a new appeal process but her responsibility, and therefore the sentence, is “irrevocable”, according to the Court of Cassation. About a year ago Appendino had his 18-month sentence confirmed at second instance for the crimes of manslaughter, negligent disaster and injuries relating to the events in Piazza San Carlo. The Supreme Court ruled that the sentence must be recalculated and reduced, but nevertheless stated that the former mayor’s criminal liability is “irrevocable“. Substantially, therefore, the possibility of an acquittal disappears. The sentence will be lower, but the conviction even in the new trial is already inevitable.
On 3 June 2017, when the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid was being played, a giant screen was set up in Piazza San Carlo in Turin to show the match. While the crowd was gathered, however, four people with pepper spray caused panic: in the crowd, while many tried to escape – in many cases fearing that an attack was underway – there were around 1,600 injured, and two women died following the injuries. The mayor was investigated and then convicted as responsible for the organization.
The same happened to Paolo Giordana, the mayor’s chief of staff at the time: the appeal process will be repeated for him too. The memory of Marco Sgarbi, deputy commander of the municipal police sentenced to one year and two months, was rejected. There will also be a new trial for Maurizio Montagnese, former president of the Turismo Turin agency. The head of the police station, Alberto Bonzano, was definitively acquitted “for not having committed the crime”, having already been acquitted at second instance.
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As mentioned, therefore, another appeal process will be held for Chiara Appendino which will lead to a lower sentence, but the words of the Court of Cassation on her criminal responsibility, considered “irrevocable”, weigh heavily. A “big” decision justice for victims“, according to the civil party lawyer Caterina Biafora. One of the mayor Franco Coppi’s lawyers spoke of a “particularly severe sentence”, because “responsibility is attributed to her for facts that could hardly have been controlled by her”.
Appendino, in a long post on social media, wrote: “I have never stopped addressing my thoughts to the people involved and their families and I believe that the pain I feel will never disappear.” Today “I accept the decision of the Supreme Court but, at the same time, I cannot hide from you a sense of bitterness“, she added: “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”.
“It is an imbalance that I struggle to understand and accept: the Municipality and the mayors cannot continue to be the scapegoat for everythingfrom public safety to smog (for which, in a few hours, I will have to face a new trial)”, concluded Appendino, asking for “a healthy reflection between all the political forces and the government” on the current legislation.
Among the first comments in support of him was that of Giuseppe Conte: “Come on Chiara. We are close to you and we understand your bitterness that only you are the one paying. You are honored by your choice to have always defended yourself in the trial, never from the trial”, wrote the leader of the M5s.
Antonio Decaropresident of Anci (the association of Municipalities) and outgoing mayor of Bari, agreed with the mayor’s reflection: “I must express all my disappointment at the sentence”, because “once again only the mayor personally pays for responsibility for matters which are not within his competence”.
The 5 Star Movement of Piedmont issued a common note speaking of “great bitterness in all those who know the burdens and honors of administering, of doing politics among the people and for the people”. Appendino “has been saddled with the responsibility for this tragedy”, we read. “After a sentence like this it will be difficult to find people willing to run to govern a country or a city.”
