Who is Guido Gianni, the jeweler to whom Mattarella granted the pardon

Originally from Turin but living in Catania, in 2008 Guido Gianni found himself for the second time dealing with a robbery at his jewelery shop in Nicolosi, in the province of Catania, after having foiled another nine years earlier by shooting in the air. The bandits attacked his wife and threatened her with a weapon, which later turned out to be blanks. The goldsmith shot: two 21-year-old robbers died and a third was injured.

Grace

Eighteen years after the robbery, at the age of 66, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella signed his pardon, which cancels three years and two months of the 12 year and four month sentence for double murder and attempted murder. A story accompanied over the years by appeals, a petition from his wife and the support of the League. And which returns to the fore after weeks in which another story with similar traits, that of Mario Roggero, inflamed the political debate, punctuated by the mobilization for Matteo Salvini's clemency.

On the relationship between safety and respect for the rules, Mattarella had already drawn the line in July, at the Ventaglio ceremony. "Individual behaviors must respect common rules, those of the law", the head of state underlined, warning that thinking instead of adapting the rules to individual behaviors, "on a case by case basis", does not strengthen security but leads to the "abdication of the state". In Gianni's case, the President of the Republic "took into account the favorable opinion of the supervisory magistrate" and the five years and three months already served.

The pardon is partial: it does not cancel the conviction, but reduces the sentence still to be served, bringing it under four years and thus allowing the probationary assignment to social services to be evaluated.

The story

"I defended my wife and my family, I didn't want to kill," he explained to investigators. For the judges, however, the fatal shots were fired when the bandits were now on the run: no legitimate defense and in 2022 the prison doors opened for Gianni. However, the case had already gone beyond the courtroom, with a petition on Change.org launched by his wife Maria Angela Distefano, also supported by the Northern League MEP Susanna Ceccardi.