No plea bargain, no concessions: "I would never forgive myself, I'd rather go to jail as an innocent man."

Ciro Grillo speaks after the start of the appeal trial in which he is accused of gang rape along with his friends Francesco, Corsiglia, Edoardo Capitta, and Vittorio Lauria.

In the first instance, Grillo was sentenced to eight years for the events that occurred in his father's villa on the Costa Smeralda in 2019 .

In an interview with Telenord, the son of the founder of the Five Star Movement once again proclaimed his innocence: " I would never forgive myself for making plea bargains or any kind of concession. I would never forgive myself. I'd rather go to prison as an innocent man . It would be truly immoral, against my dignity, my honor, and justice itself. I won't do it, I would never forgive myself," he said.

But what really made the headlines were the comments about Giulia Bongiorno, a Lega senator, president of the Justice Commission, and civil lawyer for the alleged victim of sexual violence.

A thorough investigation, linking the legal proceedings surrounding the Porto Cervo incident to the political events that led to the fall of the first Conte government.

"It was 2018-2019, and the Five Star Movement had formed a government with the League. Following the Open Arms trial, the Five Star Movement authorized the proceeding, which then led to the collapse of the yellow-green government. Giulia Bongiorno was a minister in that government; she was Minister of Public Administration. Following the dissolution of the government, Giulia Bongiorno sided with the girl who reported me. From there, a significant media siege began . I believe there is a causal link between these actions by the Five Star Movement and the introduction of Giulia Bongiorno," said Ciro Grillo.

The defendant finally recalled Bongiorno's current role as chair of the Senate Justice Committee: "The committee that has the bill for the crime we're prosecuting. I'm competing against someone who can change the rules of the game mid-game. That's not fair. And this regardless of whether it's legal."