Turin court rejects jeweller Roggero's bid to suspend prison term as pardon debate intensifies
The Turin Surveillance Office denied Mario Roggero's request to suspend his 14-year-9-month sentence for killing two robbers, citing no urgency. The case now moves to higher courts amid a political clash over a presidential pardon.
The rejection
The Turin Surveillance Office has rejected Mario Roggero's request to suspend his prison term. The jeweller is detained in Bollate prison, Milan, serving a definitive sentence of 14 years and 9 months for killing two robbers and wounding a third during a 2021 incident outside his shop in Grinzane Cavour, in the Cuneo area. Surveillance magistrate Elena Massucco ruled that no circumstances of necessity or urgency were present, nor had the defence indicated any.
No circumstances of necessity and urgency are found, nor have they been indicated by the defence, which are indispensable to proceed precautionarily at this stage.
The case file now passes to the Surveillance Tribunal, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Turin Court of Appeal, and the Milan Surveillance Office for further examination.
Political controversy over the pardon
The legal decision arrives amid a heated political debate. On Thursday morning, while Roggero was still free, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio announced he had launched an investigation aimed at granting a pardon, an initiative claimed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Shortly afterwards, President Sergio Mattarella summoned Nordio and reminded him that the Constitution reserves the power to grant pardons exclusively to the head of state. Quirinale sources noted that the Supreme Court's reasoning on the Roggero case has not yet been published, making any discussion of a pardon premature.
Family's hope
Roggero's daughter, Laura Roggero, said the family maintains hope for a solution, whether through house arrest or a pardon, given her father's age. The defence had requested the suspension of the prison sentence pending the pardon application. Roggero's wife, Mariangela Sandrone, had filed the clemency request just hours before he turned himself in at Bollate last Friday.
It is a matter our lawyers are following. We keep hoping that there will be a solution, whether it is the granting of house arrest or a pardon, also considering his age.
Call for calm
Milan chief prosecutor Marcello Viola urged all sides to lower their tones, following social media attacks on the judges who convicted Roggero and the political tensions over legitimate defence. He stressed the need to let the judiciary work and to read the reasoning behind the rulings before reacting.
I believe we need to lower the tones, on everyone's part, and let the judiciary have the way and the time to do its work.
What happens next
The Surveillance Tribunal and the other judicial bodies will now examine the case. The definitive sentence of 14 years and 9 months stands, and Roggero remains in Bollate. The political clash over the pardon is likely to continue, but any clemency decision rests solely with President Mattarella, and no formal step can be taken until the Supreme Court's motivations are made public.
- Roggero shoots and kills two robbers and wounds a third outside his shop in Grinzane Cavour, Cuneo.
- Justice Minister Carlo Nordio announces an investigation into granting a pardon, while Roggero is still free.
- Roggero enters Bollate prison in Milan to begin serving his definitive sentence.
- Turin Surveillance Office rejects the defence's request to suspend the prison term, citing no urgency.
