The procession arrived near the courthouse. A symbolic place, chosen for March 8 by women involved in groups and associations that fight against gender violence, because here, in a courtroom in Tempio Pausania, a closed-door trial has been taking place for two years now for gang rape which saw unprecedented media coverage due to the notoriety of the accused and the at times dramatic story of the main accuser before the judges.
That girl, now 23 years old – she was 19 at the time of the events – is an Italian-Norwegian student: having returned to Milan after a holiday on the Costa Smeralda in the summer of 2019, she decided to report the alleged perpetrators of a night, between 16 and 17 July, which by her own admission turned her life upside down. It was she who indicated Ciro Grillo and three of his Genoese friends, Francesco Corsiglia, Vittorio Lauria and Edoardo Capitta, as the perpetrators of the violence he allegedly suffered in the Grillo family’s villa in Porto Cervo. With her there was also a friend of hers, victim of abuse for some sexual photos taken while she slept on the sofa at the home of the founder of the M5s by three of the four defendants.
And against the comedian from Geneva who is preparing to return to Italian theaters, action also arrives at the transfeminist procession of Non una di Meno in Rome: Beppe Grillo’s posters were torn and daubed with the words ‘rapist’. “He defended a rapist with all his might, victimizing the woman his son had raped. We don’t want you in our theatres”, the words shouted from the microphone.
Video Beppe Grillo’s posters torn and smeared with the words ‘rapist’
Meanwhile in Tempio it is explained: “The student – says Patrizia Desole of Prospettiva Donna, among the many feminists who took to the streets today in the Gallura city – has become the emblem of all women who have the courage to denounce patriarchal violence”. The strength of the slogans lies in the banners: “Sex without consent is rape”, “Secondary victimization is violence”. Then the shared declaration: “We are all injured parties”. What is contested, explain the promoters of the demonstration, is the witness examination to which the student was subjected, widely described by the press, “in which the blaming of the victim goes beyond the principle of the presumption of innocence and re-victimizes the woman who reports , who suffers further psychological and media violence”.
Grillo Jr. Trial Video, feminists in the square in Tempio for March 8th
None of this, according to the defense team: “The criminal trial – explains the lawyer Mariano Mameli – is suffering for everyone, offended people and defendants. I don’t think anything has ever happened here that wasn’t strictly necessary for the verification of the facts, with the utmost attention to people”.
On the procedural front, today, with the help of a translator, the student’s Norwegian friend was heard: between the two, in the hours following the alleged rape, there had been a dense exchange of messages, including vocal ones, in which the victim had confessed what had happened to her. The court decided to proceed with the full transcription of the messages which will then be included in the trial documents. We return to the courtroom with other texts – experts and technicians – on May 2nd and 3rd.
The messages between accuser and friend are on record
“I couldn’t say no and oppose it.” It is one of the many messages exchanged between the Italian-Norwegian student and her Norwegian friend in the hours following the alleged gang rape reported by the student, who accuses Ciro Grillo and three of her Genoese friends, Edoardo Capitta, Vittorio Lauria and Francesco, of the violence. Corseille.
The girl, assisted by a translator, was heard this morning in the Tempio Pausania courtroom and answered questions from the prosecutor Gregorio Capasso and the defense team. Four folders transcribing the messages between the two friends will be included in the trial documents: an expert was in fact tasked with transcribing the voice messages taken from the main accuser’s telephones and translating those written in English.
Video Trial Grillo Jr., the lawyer Velle: ‘Useful hearing for our clients’
“All the content of the chats between the two girls will be examined. The questions commenting on a chat were not conceivable or admissible”, explained the lawyer Gennaro Velle, defender of Corsiglia, at the end of the hearing. The hearing stops for the entire month of April: it will return to the courtroom on May 2nd and 3rd, when the experts and technicians will be heard and the panel will acquire the transcripts of the messages.
The disputed facts date back to the night between 16 and 17 July 2019 and allegedly occurred in the villa owned by the Grillo family in Porto Cervo.
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