The Navy lieutenant who was the protagonist of the famous 'ballet' to the tune of Jerusalema.
The performance took place on August 6, 2020 in the Taranto NCO School from the young volunteers who had just taken the oath. The video who was taking back the recruits, ended up on the web, within a few days it had gone viral.
The Navy had started a disciplinary procedure and the officer ended up under investigation by the military judiciary for “continued disobedience with multiple aggravations”, in competition with the non-commissioned officer who had assisted her.
Last February 2nd, the military investigating judge of Naples has acquitted both defendants "because the fact does not exist" and today the Military Court of Appeals confirmed the acquittal, requested by the military attorney general himself.
“I am also humanly happy about the confirmation of the acquittal. I hope that now – says the lawyer Giorgio Carta, one of the defenders – may this legal affair finally come to a close, involving a big-hearted officer driven by the sole purpose of alleviating the tension of her students accumulated during a course held entirely in the barracks due to the anti-covid measures.
I sincerely hope that the Navy will now also decide to shelve the disciplinary proceedings that have remained suspended until now pending the criminal sentence".
“Great satisfaction” it is also expressed by the lawyer Floriana DeDonno, who defends the non-commissioned officer, who was also acquitted. This is about “a pronouncement that confirms, once again – stresses – the absolute extraneousness of the young soldiers to the facts and the inconsistency of the accusation made against them. For all it is the end of a nightmare and the just recognition of their moral integrity”.
The story is well known. 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, saber and blue scarf - and, to the notes of Jerusalema, the summer hit so trendy on Tik Tok, she begins to dance.
The lieutenant sets the pace and everyone soon follows. The final effect is funny, but the outcry over the film is immediate and the Navy did not like it.
A few days later, disciplinary proceedings were started against the officer (now serving in the Marche region) for having behaved in a manner that was "highly damaging to the image" of the Armed Forces, due to the "message of serious superficiality" that it was said to convey.
A “bad example” for the young people who had just taken the oath and who were involved in a dance “deplorable in form and substance”. In the meantime, the military prosecutor of Naples has opened a criminal case for 'disobedience'.
According to the prosecution, the lieutenant, “without authorization from her superiors and in violation of the provisions, 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 via WhatsApp.
A behavior which, according to the first and second instance judges, does not however constitute any crime.
Article published on May 11, 2022 - 13:57 pm
