An offer of compensation for the girl and a request for access to restorative justice. These are the choices made by Leonardo Apache La Russa, son of the President of the Senate, in the preliminary hearing before Milan's preliminary hearing judge Maria Beatrice Parati, focusing on the charge of revenge pornography against a former high school classmate.
After the sexual assault investigation was closed, the charge of distributing an intimate video filmed that same night between May 18 and 19, 2023, remains. Her friend, DJ Tommaso Gilardoni, also faces charges for this charge. Unlike La Russa Jr., he chose the expedited trial. "This is not a fair offer; my constitutional rights have been violated," the young woman essentially explained in an email filed by her lawyer, Stefano Benvenuto. According to what has been learned, the sum involved is approximately €25,000.
At the next hearing, on December 17th, it will be determined whether the girl, a civil plaintiff, will definitively abandon that offer, which her lawyers will formalize by depositing a check in the proceedings. If she accepts it, she could withdraw her complaint, at which point the proceedings would be dismissed. The other issue the judge will have to rule on concerns the request for access to restorative justice. If it is granted, the preliminary hearing judge can then suspend the proceedings or otherwise make a decision regarding Leonardo Apache's position. Gilardoni's sentence is also expected at the next hearing.
Deputy Prosecutor Letizia Mannella and Public Prosecutor Rosaria Stagnaro have requested a two-year sentence. The requests made to the preliminary hearing judge by La Russa Jr. have "the stated purpose (also through a letter) of putting an end to all suffering for the girl and himself and allowing them both to find peace."
This is explained by lawyer Adriano Bazzoni, who, along with his colleague Vinicio Nardo, is representing the Senate President's son. The judge, as the lawyer explains, "has postponed the examination of Leonardo La Russa's position to assess both the possibility that the compensation offer would extinguish the crime and, alternatively, the possibility of restorative justice. What I want to emphasize," he adds, "is that Leonardo is charged for a single five-second video message, which he has always maintained was authorized by the girl 'provided it was intended only for Gilardoni,' a fact she has not denied, and she has stated she remembers nothing."
(Unioneonline)