The release of Salvatore Ruggiero, known as "Pizziluongo," refocuses attention on an extortion case that rocked Benevento during the Feast of Our Lady of Addolarata, revealing how justice can change the course of a community waiting for answers.
Benevento – Salvatore Riggiero, 56, from Airola, known in the legal news as "Pizziluongo," has been released. The preliminary hearing judge of the Benevento Court has revoked his house arrest, imposing a residual obligation to sign in.
The man, a convicted felon with numerous criminal records, was accused of an alleged extortion committed in September 2024, during the traditional feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in Airola.
According to the Benevento Prosecutor's Office's reconstruction, Ruggiero, taking advantage of his reputation as a figure with ties to the criminal underworld, allegedly applied illicit pressure to the detriment of a large entertainment company, organizer of the concert by singer Riccardo Fogli.
The investigation was based on the testimonies of three people, including the company owner and a former city councilor, and on the accounts of a Carabiniere who reportedly witnessed a fragment of the scene. On this basis, the prosecutor requested pre-trial detention, emphasizing the man's social danger and his "unscrupulousness" in committing the crime in a public and religious context.
The investigating judge had initially rejected the prison request, opting for the more lenient measure of house arrest. Now, the judge has decided to further ease the sentence, accepting the defense arguments of lawyer Vittorio Fucci and Dr. Giuseppe Vittorio Fucci.
The defense successfully argued three lines of argument: it contested the existence of the requirement of violence or threat (metus) necessary to establish the crime of extortion; it raised doubts about the solidity of the witnesses' identifications; and finally, it denied the existence of precautionary requirements that would justify a deprivation of liberty measure, such as the risk of escape or tampering with evidence.
The decision, therefore, while not absolving the defendant of the merits of the charge—the trial must continue—returns him to freedom pending trial, marking a setback for the prosecution in a matter that had raised alarm in the Sannio area.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
Salvatore Ruggiero's case makes me reflect on how justice works differently. I don't quite understand why so many people are involved, and whether it's really right to release him now, given his past.