Chiara Nava President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella has signed three pardon decrees pursuant to Article 87, paragraph 11, of the Constitution. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, following the required preliminary investigation, has expressed a favorable opinion on all three measures. The Quirinale Palace announced the news.
The measures concern three people convicted of different crimes.
In two cases, these are partial pardons, which reduce the sentence still to be served, while for the first recipient, the pardon concerns the entire remaining sentence.
Mattarella signs three pardons: one for a convicted felon with serious health problems.
The first individual clemency decree was adopted in favor of A.
A., born in 1972 and sentenced to a total of seven years in prison for drug-related and other crimes.
Mattarella granted a pardon for the remaining sentence of five years, five months, and ten days. The decision took into account the favorable opinions of the two competent judicial authorities and, in particular, the convicted man's health condition , which was deemed extremely serious and irreversible.
Precisely because of these conditions, the deferral of the execution of the sentence had already been ordered some time ago.
The President of the Republic's power to pardon is provided for in Article 87 of the Constitution and allows for the extinction, in whole or in part, of the sentence imposed by an irrevocable sentence.
Guido Gianni, a partial pardon after his conviction for double homicide
Among the recipients of the measures is Guido Gianni , born in 1960, sentenced to twelve years and four months in prison for double murder and attempted murder , acts committed in 2008 during an attempted robbery inside his jewelry store.
The President of the Republic granted a partial pardon , expiring three years and two months of the sentence. The decision took into account the favorable opinion of the supervisory magistrate, in addition to the five years and three months already served. This measure reduces the remaining sentence to below four years, the threshold that allows the supervisory court to evaluate the possibility of probation.
GB, sentence reduced after reintegration process
The third provision concerns GB, born in 1981 and sentenced to ten years in prison for drug-related crimes committed between 2002 and 2009.
Mattarella granted a partial pardon, completing one year and nine months of the remaining sentence. The President took into account the favorable opinion of the supervisory magistrate, who highlighted the change in the convicted man's life and the process of reintegration already underway and consolidated in his social, professional, and family life.
The health conditions of the man's minor daughter were also taken into account in the assessment . Again, thanks to the reduced sentence, the remaining time to serve falls within the limit that allows the Supervisory Court to evaluate whether to grant probation to social services.
Guido Gianni, from robbery to Mattarella's pardon: the story of the Nicolosi jeweler
It was February 18, 2008, when Guido Gianni 's jewelry store in Nicolosi, near Catania, was attacked by three robbers. During the raid, the jeweler intervened after the bandits had attacked and threatened his wife, Maria Angela Distefano . Gianni opened fire, killing two of the robbers and wounding the third. His version of events was that he fired to defend his own life and that of his wife.
The affair, however, turned into a lengthy legal case. According to the reconstruction accepted in the proceedings, some of the fatal shots were fired when the robbers were fleeing, and therefore the facts were not recognized as self-defense . The final sentence was set at twelve years and four months for double murder and attempted murder.
" I shot to defend my wife's life and my own. I defended my family. I didn't mean to kill, " Gianni told investigators the day after the robbery. The ballistic and forensic reconstruction became central to the trial. According to the findings of the proceedings, Gianni had wounded the robbers during the struggle, while the shots that killed two of them were fired when they were fleeing. This is the crux of the self-defense case.
After the conviction, his wife, Maria Angela Distefano, continued to maintain that her husband had acted to protect her and his family . In 2022, she launched a petition asking the President of the Republic to grant him a pardon, which garnered thousands of signatures.
Meanwhile, the legal case has reached a final verdict. The measure now signed by Sergio Mattarella does not overturn the sentence, but it does affect the remaining sentence.
Gianni's story is thus back in the spotlight, partly because of its parallels with other cases of business owners who fought back during robberies, including that of Piedmontese jeweler Mario Roggero . Nicolosi's case, however, remains primarily tied to the delicate line between reacting to an attack and self-defense, a theme that has pervaded the entire legal proceedings.