Spanish Quarter protests erupt in support of Ugo Russo: "Where's the trial gone?"

Naples – White sheets hung from balconies in the Spanish Quarter to demand truth and justice. This morning, the Neapolitan neighborhood awoke to dozens of graffiti, all bearing the same question: "What happened to the Ugo Russo murder trial?"

The boy was just 15 years old when, on March 1, 2020, he was killed with three gunshots by an off-duty Carabiniere during an attempted robbery. Now, nearly six years later, his family and the Truth and Justice Committee for Ugo Russo are denouncing an inexplicable stalemate in the legal proceedings.

"The first-instance trial at the Naples Assize Court has been dragging on for years," the parents complained in the statement released by the committee. "After the February hearing, we don't know the date of the next one. A year of unjustified suspension just when it seemed to be finally coming to a possible conclusion."

The Carabiniere is charged with aggravated voluntary manslaughter. Residents of the neighborhood have chosen the "protest sheet" to launch what they call "a silent cry" against a wait they consider intolerable. The graffiti posted on balconies represents the voice of a neighborhood demanding concrete answers regarding the death of a teenager.

Today's demonstration brings attention to a case that risks being lost in the maze of justice, while Ugo's family and friends continue to wait for the trial to resume.