Roggero case: probation judge rejects request to defer sentence; the jeweller remains in prison

The Turin Supervisory Court has rejected the application for a stay of sentence by way of a pardon submitted by the defence team of Mario Roggero, the 72-year-old jeweller from Cuneo who was definitively sentenced to 14 years and nine months for killing two robbers and wounding a third who had raided his jewellery shop in April 2021. The defence had primarily requested a stay of execution pending the decision of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on the application for a pardon and, in the alternative, house arrest. The Attorney General’s Office had expressed a negative opinion.

Following the rejection of the application – submitted by lawyer Stefano Marcolini – Mario Roggero therefore remains in prison. In their ruling, the judges note that a stay of proceedings in the event of an application for a pardon is a residual possibility, with very few precedents in case law. According to the court, granting such a stay would require a fumus boni iuris (prima facie case) so evident as to justify an almost disrespectful intrusion by the supervisory judiciary into an area that constitutes the exclusive prerogative of the Head of State. A condition which the judges do not consider to be present in the Roggero case. The order points out that the case remains extremely divisive, even in terms of public opinion, and that, whilst on the one hand self-defence has been ruled out, on the other, the reaction of a person unjustly attacked cannot be measured with the precision of a chemist’s balance, as in such situations one might hypothesise an emotional shock capable of influencing the conduct of the victim of the attack. However, it is precisely the presence of conflicting arguments that leads the court to rule out any pre-emptive intervention by the judges, leaving it to the President of the Republic to decide whether to make any changes – whether total, partial or conditional – to the current situation. The court also notes that a postponement could even prove disadvantageous to Roggero should the Head of State decide to grant only a partial pardon: the suspended period of the sentence would not, in fact, be served and could thus delay his fulfilment of the time requirements necessary to qualify for prison privileges.

‘legal’.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe there is any risk of him absconding or reoffending; therefore, whilst respecting our respective roles, I hope he will return to his children and grandchildren, to his job and to his shop as soon as possible”: said Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, commenting on the decision not to defer Mario Roggero’s sentence. On the sidelines of a conference on energy sovereignty at Palazzo Lombardia in Milan, Salvini announced that a fundraising stall would be set up in Pontida to help cover the legal costs of the jeweller from Cuneo.