Salvini visits Roggero in Bollate: I would be proud to put him forward as a candidate

“He’s fine. And he’s keen to let us know: he’s sleeping, eating, studying and reading. He’s keen to let us know that he’s fine. We talked about everything – what’s happening now and what might happen in the future: he can get back in the game. He believes, quite rightly in my view, that he’s the victim of an unjust attack. I would be proud to nominate him to represent the Italian people.” These were the words of the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of the Lega Matteo Salvini after a visit lasting over an hour and a half to Bollate prison, where he met Mario Roggero.

Outside the school, the young people from the Lega organised a rally in solidarity with the jeweller, for whom his wife has appealed for a pardon; in support of this appeal, the centre-right has launched a petition, and Minister Nordio has opened a preliminary investigation.

“There have been no attacks against anyone. We are not exerting any pressure. His wife has requested a pardon and, in my view, she was right to do so: I am convinced that it can be freely considered by the President of the Republic in the manner and at the time of his choosing. Because he is the only one who can decide the manner, timing and substance,” said League leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, speaking to the press after visiting the jeweller – who was convicted of murdering his robbers – in Bollate prison.

As regards a possible pardon for the jeweller Mario Roggero, his lawyer Stefano Marcolini emphasised that there is confidence, but also that the process in this case will be lengthy: ‘Yes, but we must be aware that the process will not be quick, I believe, for a presidential review. The application for a pardon is an interesting prospect, but it is a medium-term one,’ said the lawyer, responding to journalists outside Bollate prison, emphasising that yesterday Roggero “addressed the Head of State in a perhaps slightly direct manner”, “but he also said many other things that, on a human level, made me smile”. “At present, the law does not allow it. Murder offences preclude house arrest; it is not a viable option.”

“It is important to discuss the ethics of repentance – that is, a factor which the Attorney General takes into account when drawing up his non-binding opinion on the granting of a pardon – alongside an awareness of the unlawfulness of one’s actions”: emphasised Lucia Musti, Attorney General of the Turin Court of Appeal, after Mario Roggero’s wife submitted an application for a pardon in the Piedmontese capital.