The perpetrators and instigators are ready to speak before the magistrates, reiterating their resolve not to actually harm Sigfrido Ranucci or anyone else. In the coming days, all those arrested in the attack on the Report host will attempt to provide important pieces of their versions of what happened on October 16, 2025, when a bomb exploded in front of the journalist's home in Torvaianica. Lavitola is ready to make spontaneous statements to the Court of Appeal —the meeting is expected to be held in the first half of next week—in which he will offer "clarifications" to address the reasons that, on August 12, led to the preliminary hearing judge's rejection of his lawyers' request for release following preliminary hearings.
The four members of the gang that planted the bomb will face magistrates for the first time: their defense attorneys have filed a request for questioning with the Rome DDA prosecutors, considering that they had always exercised their right to remain silent. It's possible they could be questioned as early as this week. The only one likely to remain silent, at least for the next few weeks, is Ranucci, a victim of the bombing. Before the presentation of his book in the province of Trento, he explained, under pressure from reporters, "I won't talk about the judicial investigation." He then clarified: "I will talk, but out of respect for the magistrates first." The defense attorneys' moves, however, suggest that the arrested men may be working toward a common strategy, but it's still too early to tell, especially since it's possible the four might want to provide clarification—and here the versions could differ—on the mandate they received for the bombing.
Moreover, the request from the perpetrators of the attack comes after Lavitola's confession, in which the businessman claimed he had sent them to Ranucci's house for a demonstration using different methods: gunshots aimed at the house wall, not a bomb. This is the thesis the former fixer will reiterate at the preliminary hearing: Gomes Tavares, his factotum, the alleged go-between with the gang and still a fugitive in Africa who promises to "return soon," acted on his own initiative without following Lavitola's instructions, which, according to him, were aimed at ensuring the safety of Ranucci or others. Furthermore, in their brief, the lawyers could leverage the fact that at least one of the perpetrators stated that they had no intention of harming the tenant. Therefore, the businessman does not appear to be backing down. There is no retraction on the motive: the former publisher maintains that the idea of organizing the attack on Ranucci was his own choice alone, there were no other instigators, and he did it to obtain an increase in the journalist's security detail "in light of the threats he had received."
The effect, as it turned out, was the opposite. On the political front, the possibility of increasing the security level for the host of Report has faded. Already last July, the president of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission, Chiara Colosimo, in light of the latest developments, had explained that increasing the journalist's security detail appears "in fact no longer necessary." It was the FdI representative, after Sigfrido Ranucci's hearing months ago before the Anti-Mafia Commission, who wrote to the UCIS—the joint central office for personal security—requesting an increased level of protection for the host of Report. But before taking the stage for the presentation of his book, Ranucci himself weighed in on the issue, answering a question about a possible reduction in the security detail: "It's not Colosimo's responsibility," he said. And regarding the possibility of his replacement as host of Report, he commented: "The company can do what it wants; it's the company." Ranucci also said in response to reporters: "I feel great among my people," and spoke of a "shameful attack" regarding the salaries of the journalists who publish Report.
(Unioneonline)