The supreme Cassation Court on
Tuesday ordered a retrial for a trade unionist who was acquitted
of sexual assault because appeals court judges ruled the woman
had had 20-30 seconds to react and flee the attack.
The acquittal had sparked controversy because for the judges of
the Milan Court of Appeal the conduct of the trade unionist "did
not (certainly) nullify any possible reaction of the injured
party, having continued for a time window, 0-30 seconds which
would have allowed her to get away".
The alleged victim, an air hostess, had contacted the unionist
at Milan's Malpensa airport in 2018 over a trade-union dispute.
On June 24, the Milan appeals court cleared the former trade
unionist of sexual assault, upholding a first-instance verdict,
stating that the hostess took too long to react to his alleged
assault.
The man, former CISL official Raffaele Meola, was first cleared
of the alleged assault in 2020.
A women's group assisting the alleged victim called the appeals
sentence a "disgrace that takes us back 30 years" and said they
would appeal to the supreme Court of Cassation.
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