An alleged incident involving three fencers accused of raping a 17-year-old female fencer from Uzbekistan has emerged in Italy. The incident reportedly occurred on August 4-5, 2023, in the province of Tuscany. The Siena police intervened following concerns raised by the victim's legal representative, Il Messaggero reported.
Two of the accused fencers are currently under investigation, while the third is a minor. Despite the allegations, the Siena prosecutor's office did not open an immediate investigation, leading to criticism. The legal representative of the Uzbek fencer expressed disappointment with the perceived lack of action taken against the accused athletes.
The alleged rape is said to have occurred during a sports camp in the Italian province of Chianciano Terme, involving three athletes affiliated with the Italian Fencing Federation (FIS). The victim's lawyer has advocated for the exclusion of the suspects from competitions as a precautionary measure. The victim's lawyer, Luciano Guidarelli, has been sending requests to the FIS for six months, demanding that the suspects be excluded from the competition as a precautionary measure. As oer to the lawyer, since August last year, the girl crossed paths with them twice on the competition grounds, which caused her "secondary trauma".
"I sent several requests and went to the headquarters of the federation to meet the president, but he did not receive me. I spoke to the secretary. The investigation is ongoing at the prosecutor's office, but no action has been taken," - says Luciano Guidarelli.
FIS president Paolo Azzi says that the federation does not have the right to exclude athletes from the competition in such cases.
We have done everything we can, we cannot replace the judicial system.
"We do not have the authority to investigate such serious crimes under the red code," said the president.
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