An Italian appeals court has confirmed the sentence of a Swiss man to 30 years in prison.
03/29/2026, 07:3303/29/2026, 07:33
The now 68-year-old is said to have been the perpetrator of a right-wing extremist-motivated bomb attack on the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia in 1974.
The attack was carried out on the Piazza della Loggia in 1974.Image: www.imago-images.de
The appeal court declared the Swiss man’s complaint inadmissible, the Italian news agency Ansa reported on Saturday. The accused, who has been living in Switzerland for years under a new identity, claimed that he had never officially appointed his public defender and had had no contact with him, which made it impossible to examine the complaint.
For his part, Attorney General Guido Rispoli criticized the accused’s conscious decision not to take part in the proceedings. It was not a matter of ignorance of the procedure, he pleaded. A view shared by the judge.
16 years old at the time
The convicted person has Swiss citizenship. He was 16 years old at the time of the attack. On May 28, 1974, eight people were killed and over 100 people were injured. Last April, the youth court in the Lombard city convicted the Swiss.
According to the court, he planted the bomb during a union rally against neo-fascist terrorism in the Lombard city. The attack is attributed to the right-wing extremist organization Ordine Nuovo.
In the first instance, the Swiss was convicted on the basis of consistent evidence, in particular the statements of a former Ordine Nuovo activist in whom he is said to have confided. In addition, a photograph from the time confirmed his presence at the crime scene.
The 68-year-old still has the option of filing a cassation appeal. However, the Swiss judiciary has already ruled out extradition to Italy on the grounds that the crimes are time-barred. (sda/ans)