The ‘Save Roggero’ law does not save Roggero

The Council of Ministers approved the new security bill yesterday, Tuesday 14 July. The text also includes an article amending the Civil Code: those who commit offences such as robbery, bag-snatching, kidnapping or rape can no longer claim compensation for damages from those who injure them in self-defence, even when that reaction exceeds the limits of legitimate self-defence. The Home Secretary, Matteo Piantedosi, explained this at a press conference: “Compensation is, in a sense, excluded in situations where the incident occurs whilst the injured party is committing certain offences. The classic example is that of a home burglary.” Piantedosi added that “there is a list of offences for which the exclusion of compensation for damages is being introduced in an innovative way.” These include sexual assault, sexual acts with minors and gang rape, as well as burglary and snatch theft. In short, in these cases, criminal liability remains, but civil liability is waived. 

The man in question has a first name and a surname, even though the text does not mention them. Mario Roggero, a 72-year-old jeweller from Grinzane Cavour, who on 28 April 2021 reacted to a robbery in his shop by firing his "Amadeo Rossi", a .38 Special. Three armed men had entered the shop; one had pointed a gun at his forehead. The weapon later turned out to be an airsoft pistol — “indistinguishable at first glance from a real Glock”, according to the reconstruction. Roggero had chased the robbers into the street and opened fire. Two of the robbers were killed: Giuseppe Mazzarino and Andrea Spinelli. A third, Alessandro Modica, was wounded. 

The courts, regarding the events of 2021, did not recognise his claim of self-defence. The Asti Assize Court sentenced him to seventeen years. On appeal, last December, the sentence was reduced to fourteen years and nine months: the Turin judges considered that, when Roggero fired his gun, the danger to him had by then ceased, with the robbers already fleeing towards their car. The trial judges did not even recognise culpable excess, the specific scenario to which the Piantedosi provision explicitly refers. According to the courts in Asti and Turin, when Roggero fired his gun, there was no longer any situation of self-defence in which he could have acted excessively. Today, that conviction has become final: this was decided by the judges of the First Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation. The jeweller will turn himself in this evening, and League secretary Matteo Salvini will ask President Mattarella to grant him a pardon.

The criminal conviction is compounded by a civil one: the victims’ families are seeking compensation of around 3.3 million euros, with a provisional award of 780,000 euros that is already enforceable. Roggero has launched a fundraising campaign and says he will sell whatever he can. 

Whilst Roggero’s defence team was preparing the appeal to the Court of Cassation, the government was drafting the provision that was incorporated into the bill yesterday and which bears his name in the headlines. Neither Piantedosi nor the Lega – which had tabled an almost identical bill ten days earlier – explicitly mentioned his name: the Minister for the Interior spoke yesterday of "high-profile cases", but the reference to Roggero remains clear nonetheless. The timing speaks for itself. Indeed, today the judges of the Court of Cassation were due to decide whether the jeweller’s conviction should become final or not. In any case, however, the bill approved by the Council of Ministers is not a decree-law. It does not come into force the day after the Head of State signs it, as happened in February with the previous security package. It must pass through committees and be debated in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate before being published in the Official Gazette. In other words, we are talking about further weeks, or more likely months. And even assuming lightning-fast approval, the legislation would not have affected the case that inspired it anyway. Article 11 of the preliminary provisions stipulates that the law is not retroactive; that is, it applies only to the future, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the text – and there is no such provision here. Now, following the Court of Cassation’s ruling, the judgement has become final. This includes the civil proceedings, including compensation. And a final judgement cannot be reopened on the basis of a subsequent law: this is one of the cornerstones of the separation of powers; not even Parliament can overturn a judgement with a vote.

The "Save Roggero" bill does not save Roggero.