The navy lieutenant who starred in the dance to the tune of Jerusalema will have to be tried for 'aggravated continued disobedience'.
The episode last summer in the Taranto NCO school with the young volunteers who had taken the oath and were dancing the song of the summer with the platoon commander had cost the lieutenant a disciplinary proceeding. The officer is now under investigation for “competition in aggravated continued disobedience,” a crime under the military penal code of peace. In the coming days, assisted by the lawyer Giorgio Carta, she will be questioned as part of the investigation opened by the military prosecutor of Naples.
Immediately after the incident, which dates back to August 6, the young officer was placed under disciplinary proceedings by the Navy (suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings) on charges of having brought discredit on the Armed Forces. However, she has always maintained that she has done nothing wrong.
In the video that has become popular on the web, the recruits are seen framed in platoons in the barracks square. Then the commander enters the scene – with her white uniform, sabre and blue scarf – and, to the tune of Jerusalem, the summer hit that is all the rage on Tik Tok – start dancing. The lieutenant sets the pace and everyone soon follows.
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A few days later, a disciplinary proceeding was started against the officer, now in service in the Marche region, for a long list of irregularities. Among the accusations were that of having violated the instructions and of improper use of the department's weapons, which the sailors carried in a casual manner during the dance. Ultimately, the officer was held responsible for behavior that was "highly damaging to the image" of the Armed Forces, for the "message of serious superficiality" that was allegedly transmitted. A "terrible example" for the young people who had just taken the oath and who were involved in a dance that was "deplorable in form and substance".
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
The sailor responded to the disciplinary proceedings with an appeal to the TAR, but now everything is at a standstill because, in the meantime, the military prosecutor of Naples has opened a criminal case for 'Disobedience'. According to the prosecution, she did not obey the orders of the department commander relating to service and discipline. In particular, "without authorization from hierarchical superiors and in violation of the provisions, she first ordered the students" to "perform a dance to the song 'Jerusalema', by Master KG" and, while the sailors "danced to this song while remaining in the frame", the lieutenant ordered a petty officer to film everything with his cell phone and send it to her - "again without authorization from hierarchical superiors" - via Whatsapp.
“My trust in the military magistrates of Naples is not circumstantial, but sincere and based on experience. So I am sure – comments the lawyer Carta – that they will soon realize that my client has not committed any crime, indeed, I repeat, she has made the Navy enter even more into the hearts of Italians”. According to the lawyer, it was a way to release tension in a period in which the oath had taken place without family members due to the pandemic. The gathering had lasted only three minutes, and “there had been no violation of any instructions”. And even less, he says today, a crime.
Article published on March 19, 2021 - 20pm
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