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ITALY DAILY |
Alessandra B., a 24-year-old woman, begged President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Monday to pardon her father, who in 1999 was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of raping her since she was three.
Eight years ago, Alessandra herself told police her father had abused her. But now she claims the man, whose first name was given as Giovanni, is innocent.
“I was mentally unstable when I first reported him.” Alessandra, today a law student at the University of Milan, told national broadcaster RAI on Monday.
Yet, “though I retracted my accusations later and a gynaecological test proved I still a virgin, prosecutors didn’t consider valid the evidence I gave and found my father guilty.”
Her father has been a fugitive from justice since 1999, when a Rome court found him guilty of rape. The ruling was the last of six appeals – two of which had found Giovanni B. not guilty.
According to Alessandra, prosecutors should have stopped the investigations as soon as she took back her story right after leaving hospital, where she was held for a serious form of depression from 1992 to 1994. Alessandra said that during her illness, she attempted suicide for 11 times.
In 1994, she was released from the clinic in Pavia, a small town near Milan, and took back her accusations.
“The problem is that now, after seven trials we can’t file for a further appeal,” Alessandra’s attorney, Luigi la Marca, said on Monday.
Pietro Forno, the prosecutor in Milan who was in charge of the investigations, said Monday that the last ruling should be regarded as “final”.
Alessandra resorted to go public with her story, giving a long interview to the ANSA news agency, “in an effort to draw the public opinion’s attention and obtain Ciampi’ clemency,” Mr. La Marca told Italy Daily on Monday.
“My father has always been a very violent man,” Alessandra was quoted as saying by ANSA. “When I first reported him, I was 16 years old, I was very depressed and was desperately craving my family’s attention.”
“I was taking heavy doses of anti-depressant drugs and basically didn’t know what I was saying ,” Alessandra said.
The 24-year-old added that, once she realized a few month after confession that her depression had led her to wrongly accuse her father, she said it was too late.”
“The hospital’s doctors had alerted the police, who in turn had alerted prosecutors: “The whole matter had simply snowballed and was completely out of my hands,” she said.
Now, Alessandra said she wants to take charge of her life and to grow close to her father once again.
“She hopes the president will pardon to her father and she counts on being reunited with him in the near future.” Her lawyer said.
