In Rochefort-en-Terre, Vincenzo Vecchi, definitely free, celebrated by his support committee – Bretagne

At the café de la Pente de Rochefort-en-Terre, headquarters of Vincenzo Vecchi’s support committee, champagne flows freely, mixed with tears of relief, this Tuesday evening. The Italian anti-globalization activist, now Rochefortais, is definitively free, at the end of a judicial soap opera which lasted three years and eight months. The public prosecutor’s office of Lyon had until Tuesday to appeal to the Court of Cassation, and waived it. He will not enforce a European arrest warrant issued against Vincenzo Vecchi by Italy, where he was heavily sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison (sentence later reduced to ten years) for violence during the G8 of Genoa in 2001. This arrest warrant had led to his arrest in Rochefort-en-Terre, in 2019.

35,000 hours of mobilization

“We couldn’t believe it until 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. We realize the work that has been done from the café de la Pente, and which ends there this evening, underlines Pascale Jaouen, former lawyer and magistrate, member of her support committee. It is an atypical case, by the length of the procedure and the mobilization. We had three hearings in the Court of Appeal, three in the Court of Cassation and one hearing in the Court of Justice of the European Community. In its judgment on Friday, the investigating chamber of the Lyon Court of Appeal considered, in particular, that handing him over to Italy “would constitute a disproportionate attack on the right to respect for (his) private and family life. “. Some of the charges against him in Italy had also been time-barred since July 2022. In the courtyard of the Café de la Pente, glass of champagne in hand, Jean-Pierre Guenanten, another loyal supporter of Vincenzo Vecchi, did the accounts. “He could count on us. The support committee has met 352 times here. It includes 150 people, including 30 to 40 who are very active. We spent 35,000 hours organizing his defense. It is a case that mobilized 50 magistrates, seven lawyers, 58,000 euros in expenses. »

A very discreet hero

At around 7:30 p.m., the entrance of Vincenzo Vecchi, euphoric, into the café, is greeted by howls of joy.

“We said to ourselves “he does not crack”. In three years and eight months, he has never cracked. It gave us strength, explains Pascale Jaouen. He is someone who has shielded himself a lot, walled in his dignity. Always discreet and restrained. He has always avoided the microphones of journalists. Another member of the support committee then launches into a speech, assigning him a mission: “You have only one duty, to be happy and to let it be known”. His story will continue in France since he cannot venture beyond the borders, the European arrest warrant still being in force there.