Forza Italia Senator Francesco Silvestro, accused by a 52-year-old businesswoman of an act of sexual assault that allegedly occurred in his office in the Palazzo San Luigi de' Francesi, is under investigation. Repubblica reports this on its website, claiming that the case "is now being brought to the attention of the Rome prosecutor's office." The newspaper also states that Carabiniere Antonio P. is also under investigation for attempted domestic violence. The senator and the soldier "reportedly registered in the office that received the woman's original complaint," also "for their protection, to allow for an immediate expedited investigation, in the interest of the complainant and the protection of the accused."

Silvestro meanwhile apologizes "for the words I uttered during a telephone conversation with a journalist from La Repubblica. I was taken aback by what was attributed to me, an episode and accusations about which I have already stated my legal astonishment and complete non-involvement. I also stated my readiness, immediately, to provide any necessary clarifications. I apologize," he added, "and I repeat, for expressions that I thought were colloquial, but which I nevertheless consider incorrect, and which, in the context of a telephone conversation, may have caused misunderstandings or offended sensibilities ."

"When ever," was Silvestro's response to the journalist who asked him to respond to those accusations. "Then, modestly, I'm a good-looking guy, the lady is a normal lady..."

"I didn't think I'd have to face ridicule after the violence," the businesswoman who filed the complaint told Repubblica. "He's handsome, I'm normal. When I read it, I couldn't believe my eyes. This has nothing to do with the investigation; I can and will say that."

"I'm not a media person," she continues, "I don't like social media, I don't show off my private life. And this story just makes me feel bad. But what came out is the pure truth," she added, reiterating that she had never seen the senator before the meeting in his office in San Luigi dei Francesi. The entrepreneur explains that on February 25, 2025, she went to the senator alone to sell some bottles of wine . "Then," she says, "everything went haywire."

Without consent, she explains, "he blocked me. I was frozen. A senator. In his office. It paralyzed me," and "the psychologist explained to me that this paralysis is typical." When asked why she waited a year before filing a complaint, the entrepreneur replied: "I felt bad inside. I underwent psychological therapy, I tried to push it away, but in reality I had to face it to overcome it." And she was afraid: "I was intimidated by a friend of the senator, a Carabiniere, also a distant relative. He tried to dissuade me from filing a complaint." "If you report it, you'll ruin your life. Think about it, politicians have power you can't even imagine. If you do, you'll never work again," was the warning the woman says she received from AP "in an anonymous bar in an industrial area in Campania." "Around April, less than two months later, I was feeling a little better, and I called the office of one of Italy's best lawyers, Giulia Bongiorno, to ask for help." Speaking to one of her colleagues, the woman says she mentioned Silvestro's name. "A few days later, they called me, explaining that the firm was overwhelmed and didn't have time."

Meanwhile, Senate President Ignazio La Russa has asked the senatorial quaestors to proceed with the necessary investigations for the subsequent evaluations under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Council, and will meet with them on Tuesday . This is a necessary step, according to the combined regulations of the Senate and the Code of Conduct, which provide for sanctions ranging from censure to banishment of up to 10 days for the most serious violations.

Silvestro's political career began in 2000 in his hometown of Arzano (Naples), was interrupted in 2017 by the death of his son, and resumed in 2020 with a candidacy for the regional elections, when he was declared "unfit for election" due to a charge of extortion, which was later dismissed. Since 2022, he has been a senator, serving for five months on the Anti-Mafia Commission and then as president of the bicameral committee for regional affairs. Two years ago, he was appointed provincial commissioner for Forza Italia in Naples, and later elected coordinator. And among parliamentarians, there are those who associate the story of the complaint with the party's turmoil in Campania.

(Unioneonline/D)

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