Roberto Vecchioni faces possible trial over accusation that Geronimo La Russa robbed his home in 1997

Roberto Vecchioni is facing, in Florence, a possible trial for defamation against Geronimo La Russa, son of Senate President Ignazio La Russa. The hearing that was meant to decide whether the proceedings would go ahead has, however, been postponed to September 15th due to a procedural issue: some defence documents filed by the singer-songwriter's lawyers could not be found.
According to Vecchioni's lawyers, Simone Ciro Giordano and Ugo Cerruti, the papers needed for the judge's assessment had been duly filed but were not available at the time of the hearing. For this reason, the court ordered the postponement.

At the heart of the matter are remarks made by Vecchioni in July 2023 during the “La Gaberiana” festival in Florence. The singer-songwriter recounted an episode from 1997, when his fourteen-year-old daughter threw a party at the family home. Recalling that evening, Vecchioni claimed that some of the young guests had caused damage and committed petty theft. “My daughter was 14, it was 1997. For the first time she wanted to have a little party at home with four friends. She wanted us to go out, so we spent the evening at my mother's house. Well, very soon after the party started, people began showing up. Kids of 17, 18, 19 years old. So both adults and minors. They stole everything from me. They broke quite a lot of stuff. They took absolutely everything, even the cigar case, but they even went as far as stealing my t-shirts and underwear. I never understood why my underwear… an absolute fetish”. Continuing his account, the singer-songwriter added: “And quite a few of them got caught. Now, I don't want to give the surname, but I'll say the boy's first name, so people can understand who his father was: the young man's name is Geronimo”.

Although he did not explicitly mention the surname, the reference to Geronimo La Russa was immediately linked by the public and the media to the son of the current Senate President. This led to the defamation complaint and the opening of an investigation by the Florence public prosecutor's office. Geronimo La Russa, represented by lawyer Vinicio Nardo, has announced he will join the proceedings as a civil party. “Even knowing he was saying something false, Vecchioni accused me, 30 years later, of stealing items during a party thrown by his daughter, who was a minor at the time, just like me”, he stated. “Back in 1997 he had already pointed the finger, among those he accused, at the 'son of a well-known Milanese politician', making it easy to infer that I too was somehow responsible for what happened”. The lawyer went on to add: “It's clear, even from the timing and manner of his statement, that Vecchioni's intention – 30 years later, and therefore far removed from any emotional impulse – was to defame me and my family, for a purpose that is in no way justifiable. And since my family and I are fed up with this new sport of 'throwing out lies', I've decided to take this stand because there's a limit to everything”.

During the investigation, Vecchioni was questioned by the Florence prosecutor's office and explained that he had received no further news about developments in the complaint filed at the time of the events. He later stated that he had learned Geronimo La Russa had been investigated by the Milan juvenile court, but that his case had been dropped, while proceedings continued against other young people involved in the affair. The singer-songwriter, present in court for the postponed hearing, made no statements. The next stage of the proceedings is set for September 15, when the judge will have to decide whether to dismiss the case against the defendant or order the trial to proceed.

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