An Italian judge ruled on Tuesday that two United Nations officials cannot be brought to justice over the deaths of the Italian ambassador, his bodyguard and his driver in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Rome daily reported. was lowered. Fat Quotidiano. Judge Marisa Mosetti found in a preliminary hearing that UN agency staff have diplomatic immunity and are barred from any trial in Italy.
The incident stems from the 2021 deaths of Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci, and driver Mustafa Milambo. The three were killed in a failed kidnapping attempt while on their way to a World Food Program (WFP) project. In 2023, a local military court will Six people responsible for the attack near Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have been found guilty. The court sentenced six people to life imprisonment for their roles in the murder.
Rome’s public prosecutor’s office had requested the trial of Rocco Leone and Mansour Lugulu Rwagaza, who were respectively WFP’s deputy director and security officer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time of the attacks. Prosecutors accused Mr. Leone and Mr. Rwagaza of negligence in planning the trip and held them responsible for the death of Mr. Attanasio and his motorcade.
In his judgment in Rome on Tuesday, Mosetti argued that the two men enjoyed diplomatic immunity as employees of the United Nations agency and therefore were immune from criminal prosecution. A lawyer for Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation gave his opinion on the immunity issue at a public hearing on January 24th. Although there were some questions about the proper procedure in conveying the immunity that the prosecutor’s office sought to use in its argument, the lawyers ultimately urged the court to find that the two UN employees had immunity. .
On Tuesday, Attanasio’s father, Salvatore Attanasio, told Fat Quotidiano that the court’s decision was a bitter one, announced just days before the third anniversary of his son’s murder. Rome’s public prosecutor’s office has indicated it intends to appeal.