Chico Forti returns to Italy

Rome: “I have wonderful news to tell you: Chico Forti will return to Italy. I have just told his family and I have informed the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.

The Governor of Florida has in fact accepted Chico’s request to take advantage of the benefits provided by the Strasbourg Convention and to be transferred to Italy”. This was announced by Minister Luigi Di Maio on Facebook.

On 15 June 2000, ex-windsurfing champion and Italian television producer Enrico ‘Chico’ Forti was sentenced to life in prison without parole in Florida for the murder of Dale Pike.

“This is an extremely important result, which rewards a long and patient political and diplomatic effort. We have never forgotten Chico Forti, who will finally be able to return to his country close to his loved ones” adds Minister Di Maio “I am personally grateful to Governor DeSantis (Florida) and the U.S. Federal Administration. A special thanks to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with whom I have personally followed the story and with whom I spoke again during the weekend, for the friendship and cooperation that he has offered to reach this important outcome. The Government will now follow the next steps to accelerate Chico’s arrival as much as possible. He has been waiting for this moment for twenty years and we are happy for him, for his loved ones, for his family, for the whole city of Trento. It is a moving moment for us as well”, said Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.