Gianni Alemanno leaves Rebibbia after 18 months: his legal proceedings and the fight against prison overcrowding
The former mayor of Rome has been released from prison and has spoken out about shortcomings in the Italian prison system.
“And so here we are: on Wednesday 24 June at 10 am, I will be released, bringing to an end a prison sentence lasting 1 year, 5 months and 24 days.” After almost 18 months in prison, Gianni Alemanno is leaving Rebibbia prison today. The announcement comes from the former mayor of Rome (2008–2013), who has published a lengthy post on his social media pages, in which he does not hold back in his criticism of the Italian judicial system: “An ordeal that should never have begun, because I am innocent, because the offence for which I was convicted (influence peddling through abuse of office) has been abolished, and because there is much to be said about the circumstances that led to the complete revocation of my conditional release.”
“Mondo di mezzo”
The legal proceedings involving the former mayor of the capital began at the end of 2014 when he was placed on the list of persons under investigation in connection with “Mondo di mezzo”, the large-scale investigation into links between the public administration and organised crime in Rome. Alemanno was initially charged with aiding and abetting a mafia-style organisation and corruption. The first charge was subsequently dropped at the request of the public prosecutors, whilst the charges of corruption and illegal financing were upheld.
The Court of Rome sentenced the former mayor at first instance to six years’ imprisonment for these last two offences, and the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence in October 2020. Alemanno therefore appealed to the Court of Cassation, where he was acquitted of the corruption charge: this left only the charge of unlawful financing and a new charge – that of influence peddling – arising from the reclassification of a previous corruption offence.
The new trial and prison
As part of the new trial ordered by the Court of Appeal following a ruling by the Court of Cassation, Alemanno was sentenced to one year and ten months’ imprisonment, a sentence upheld by the Court of Cassation. Initially, the former mayor of Rome was granted the opportunity to serve his sentence under an alternative measure at a facility run by the So.Spe. - Solidarity and Hope, but, following the emergence of certain breaches, he was transferred to Rebibbia on 31 December 2024.
On his social media pages, Alemanno – who kept a ‘cell diary’ during his months in prison – promises that he will not stop fighting against prison overcrowding after his release. “Leaving prison, I almost feel as though I am deserting the trenches, leaving so many fellow prisoners and so many prison staff to their struggles and their suffering,” says the former mayor, adding, however, that “a piece of my heart remains here in Rebibbia, within the walls of prisons without justice, in the cells where people die of the heat, in the eyes of those who are still seeking redemption and hope. And where the Italian Republic is staking its reputation”.
