Italian President Sergio Mattarella grants pardons to jeweller Guido Gianni and two others

Presidential clemency under Article 87

Italian President Sergio Mattarella signed three individual clemency decrees on 7 October 2026, following formal inquiries completed by the Ministry of Justice. The acts were adopted pursuant to Article 87, paragraph 11 of the Italian Constitution, which assigns the head of state the authority to grant pardons and commute judicial penalties. According to the Quirinale statement, the Minister of Justice formulated a favorable opinion for all three cases upon concluding the prescribed administrative investigation. The three measures involve one full extinction of a remaining prison term and two partial remissions that reduce outstanding custodial sentences.

Partial pardon for Catania jeweller Guido Gianni

The most widely noted measure involves Guido Gianni, a jeweller born in 1960 from Catania who was serving a definitive sentence of 12 years and four months of imprisonment. Gianni was convicted of double homicide and attempted homicide following an armed robbery attempt inside his jewellery shop in 2008. During the confrontation, Gianni reacted against the intruders, killing two of the assailants and injuring a third robber. Mattarella granted a partial pardon that extinguished three years and two months of the remaining sentence. The Quirinale noted that the decision accounted for a favorable opinion from the surveillance magistrate and the five years and three months of detention Gianni had already completed. Because the deduction reduces his outstanding custodial sentence to under four years, the competent Surveillance Court can now assess his eligibility for probation with social services under Article 47 of the penitentiary law.

Full remission on medical grounds for A. A.

A second presidential decree granted full clemency to a recipient identified by the initials A. A., who was born in 1972. A. A. had received an overall sentence of seven years of imprisonment for narcotics offences and additional infractions. The decree cancelled the entire remaining prison sentence of five years, five months, and ten days. The Quirinale explained that the decision considered concurring favorable opinions from both competent judicial authorities involved in the case. The pardon was determined by severe and irreversible health conditions affecting the individual, which had previously prompted judicial authorities to suspend the enforcement of the sentence through a formal deferral.

Sentence reduction for G. B.

The third decree granted partial clemency to G. B., born in 1981, who was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for drug-related crimes committed between 2002 and 2009. Mattarella extinguished one year and nine months of the prison term still to be served. In this case, the head of state evaluated a favorable assessment from the surveillance magistrate, which detailed a verified change of life alongside an established pathway toward social, occupational, and family reintegration. The decision also took into consideration the health conditions of the recipient's minor daughter. As with the measure granted to Gianni, the reduction lowers the remaining custodial duration to a level that allows the Surveillance Court to evaluate non-custodial or alternative detention arrangements.