Ciro Grillo and two of his friends sentenced to eight years for gang rape. Six years to the fourth defendant
In Tempio Pausania, the first-instance ruling in the trial on the events that took place at the Porto Cervo villa in 2019. The lawyer: "We will appeal"
2' min read
2' min read
The four defendants in the trial for the group violence that took place in 2019 at the Grillo family villa in Porto Cervo have all been sentenced. After a long council chamber, the panel of the Court of Tempio Pausania pronounced the four sentences: eight years to Ciro Grillo, son of Beppe founder of the 5 Star Movement, Edoardo Capitta and Vittorio Lauria; six and a half years, instead, to Francesco Corsiglia. During the indictment, the Prosecutor Gregorio Capasso had asked for a nine-year sentence for the four.
The defence reiterated their request for acquittal at the last hearing, calling the charge incongruous and contradictory, and the victim unreliable. At the final hearing, the trial lasted three and a half years, the victim was not present, the Italian-Norwegian student, 19 years old at the time, who lodged a complaint with the Milan Carabinieri a few days after the events alleged on the night between 16 and 17 July 2019 at the Grillo family's villa in Porto Cervo.
The collegium, presided over by Judge Marco Contu, granted the four general extenuating circumstances and decided on a provisional payment of EUR 10,000 to be paid to the civil parties for Ciro Grillo, Lauria and Capitta, and EUR 5,000 for Corsiglia. The latter was convicted of gang rape but acquitted of the charge of having harassed the Italian-Norwegian student's friend by taking and disseminating sex photos taken while the girl was sleeping on the sofa in the Grillo family's cottage.
Compensation for the injured parties will then be determined in the civil court. For Giulia Bongiorno, lawyer of the young Italian-Norwegian woman, it is a 'granitic sentence'. The president of Differenza Donna Elisa Ercoli took the position: "Today's decision confirms that sexual violence cannot be reduced to a stunt but is a very serious crime that affects the freedom and dignity of women," she said. "This ruling restores strength and credibility to the word of the survivors".
Enrico Grillo, Ciro Grillo's defence lawyer, comments: 'We are very disappointed, we reiterate the fact that we are convinced of our innocence. We will continue in the subsequent levels of judgement. We are waiting for the grounds for the sentence and then, of course, we will appeal. We did not expect this sentence.
