Musk calls Italian jeweller's sentence 'madness' as Meloni backs pardon and League pushes self-defence bill

Musk's intervention

Elon Musk waded into the Italian legal debate on 19 July, posting on X that the definitive sentence against jeweller Mario Roggero was "madness". Responding to a user who asked whether Europe now punishes people for defending their families, Musk wrote that the judge and prosecutor "are the ones who deserve this condemnation". The comment was amplified by Andrea Stroppa, Musk's contact in Italy, who posted "Elon Musk on the side of Mario Roggero". It is not the first time the Tesla chief has attacked Italian magistrates: in November 2024 he criticised judges over the non-validation of migrant detentions in Albania, drawing a rebuke from President Sergio Mattarella, who reminded him that Italy is a sovereign democracy.

It's madness! The judge and the prosecutor in this case are the ones who deserve this condemnation.

The Roggero case

Roggero, who ran a jewellery shop in Grinzane Cavour, in the province of Cuneo, was definitively sentenced to 14 years and 9 months in prison. In 2021, three robbers assaulted his store; Roggero chased them and opened fire, killing two and wounding the third. The courts ruled that the threat had already ceased when he shot, and that some shots were fired at the robbers' backs, so the conditions for self-defence were not met. After the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence, the Asti Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest order. Roggero's wife has since filed a pardon request and a request to defer the execution of the penalty.

Political reactions

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni broke her silence on the same day as Musk's post, calling the penalty disproportionate and directing the Justice Ministry to work on a presidential pardon. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini visited Roggero in Bollate prison for the second time, and Galeazzo Bignami, the Brothers of Italy group leader in the Chamber, also made a visit. The centre-right is united in seeking clemency, but the League is pursuing a parallel track: a bill to amend article 52 of the penal code and widen the scope of legitimate defence. Senator Claudio Borghi has already drafted the text.

The penalty is disproportionate.

Self-defence debate

The case has split public opinion and politics. Supporters of Roggero argue that the courts ignored the psychological state of a man who had just seen his wife and daughter threatened with a gun and who had suffered previous violent robberies. Opponents warn that expanding self-defence would erase the principle of proportionality. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, said the League's proposal would replace self-defence with a right to revenge, "cancelling an institution from ancient Roman law to today". Even some left-wing voters, according to il Giornale, consider it paradoxical to turn the victim into the perpetrator.

If this norm passes, self-defence would no longer exist; there would be a right to carry out revenge. Proportionality to the offence disappears, and so does the persistence of the state of danger.

What comes next

The pardon request now sits with the Justice Ministry and, ultimately, the head of state. The League's bill is expected to be tabled in parliament, though critics already question its constitutionality. Musk's intervention, while carrying no legal weight, has thrust the case into the international spotlight and given fresh ammunition to the right-wing parties that have made Roggero a symbol of the self-defence cause.