Tesla and X owner wades into Roggero case as jailed jeweller's family seeks a presidential pardon and the Italian right rallies to his cause.Elon Musk has intervened in one of Italy's most heated legal controversies, publicly backing Mario Roggero, the jeweller jailed for killing two robbers who had held up his shop, and turning his fire on the magistrates who convicted him.Roggero, 72, from Grinzane Cavour in the northern Piemonte region, was handed a definitive sentence of 14 years and nine months after shooting dead two men fleeing an armed robbery at his jewellery shop in 2021, and wounding a third. The court of cassation confirmed the sentence, after which the Asti prosecutor's office ordered his imprisonment; he is now held at Bollate prison, near Milan. Musk wades in Responding on X to a user's post expressing outrage at the sentence, Musk wrote that the ruling was "insane", adding that the judge and prosecutor in the case were the ones "who deserved this sentence". Pardon request and prison visits The case has taken on growing political dimension in recent days. Roggero's wife has submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon, along with a separate application to defer execution of the sentence, following the imprisonment order issued after the cassation court ruling. The Italian right has thrown its weight behind Roggero. The request for clemency has been championed by the centre-right, with deputy prime minister and Lega leader Matteo Salvini visiting Roggero in prison over the weekend. The Lega has separately put forward a bill to broaden Italy's self-defence laws, though this has met resistance from coalition partner Forza Italia. Musk's history of clashing with Italian judges This is not the first time the world's richest man has waded into Italian judicial controversies. He has previously criticised the country's magistrates over their handling of migration policy, including after a Rome court ordered the return to Italy of migrants who had been transferred to Albania under a government scheme, when Musk declared on X that the judges responsible "need to go" - a remark that drew condemnation from the Italian judges' association and a rare rebuke from Italy's president. His latest comments have reignited debate in Italy over the boundaries of self-defence law. Prosecutors in the Roggero case found that lethal force was not justified because the robbers were already fleeing and posed no further threat when he fired, a conclusion that has split public opinion between those who see Roggero as a victim failed by the justice system and those who warn against blurring the line between self-defence and retaliation. Photo credit: FotoField / Shutterstock.com

Elon Musk has intervened in one of Italy's most heated legal controversies, publicly backing  who had held up his shop, and turning his fire on the magistrates who convicted him. Roggero, 72, from Grinzane Cavour in the northern Piemonte region, was handed a definitive sentence of 14 years and nine months after shooting dead two men fleeing an armed robbery at his jewellery shop in 2021, and wounding a third. The court of cassation confirmed the sentence, after which the Asti prosecutor's office ordered his imprisonment; he is now held at Bollate prison, near Milan. Responding on X to a user's post expressing outrage at the sentence, Musk wrote that the ruling was "insane", adding that the judge and prosecutor in the case were the ones "who deserved this sentence". The case has taken on growing political dimension in recent days. Roggero's wife has submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon, along with a separate application to defer execution of the sentence, following the imprisonment order issued after the cassation court ruling. The Italian right has thrown its weight behind Roggero. The request for clemency has been championed by the centre-right, with deputy prime minister and Lega leader Matteo Salvini visiting Roggero in prison over the weekend. The Lega has separately put forward a bill to broaden Italy's self-defence laws, though this has met resistance from coalition partner Forza Italia. This is not the first time the world's richest man has waded into Italian judicial controversies. He has previously criticised the country's magistrates over their handling of migration policy, including after a Rome court ordered the return to Italy of migrants who had been transferred to Albania under a government scheme, when Musk declared on X that the judges responsible "need to go" - a remark that drew condemnation from the Italian judges' association and . His latest comments have reignited debate in Italy over the boundaries of self-defence law. Prosecutors in the Roggero case found that lethal force was not justified because the robbers were already fleeing and posed no further threat when he fired, a conclusion that has split public opinion between those who see Roggero as a victim failed by the justice system and those who warn against blurring the line between self-defence and retaliation. Photo credit: FotoField / Shutterstock.com