Manuela Pedrotta

Manuela Pedrotta is a magistrate, deputy chief prosecutor at the Turin Court of Appeal.

The Askatasuna appeal trial

In October 2026 Manuela Pedrotta, together with colleague Giancarlo Avenati Bassi, represented the Turin appeals prosecutor's office in the appeal trial against activists from the former Askatasuna social centre, which had been cleared out on 18 December of the previous year at corso Regina Margherita 47 ^[1][2]. The two prosecutors asked for eighteen convictions totalling around 47 years in prison, with sentences proposed ranging from twelve months to five years ^[1][2].

The appeals prosecutor's office asked the court to recognise the offence of criminal association (associazione per delinquere), which the first-instance judges had ruled out in their verdict of 25 March 2025, when eighteen convictions out of twenty-six defendants were handed down for lesser offences, with sentences ranging from four years and nine months to five months in prison ^[2]. The criminal-association charge concerns sixteen of the eighteen defendants for whom a conviction has been sought on appeal, while the other two face lesser charges ^[1][2]. According to Pedrotta and Avenati Bassi, a "group dedicated to committing crimes" had formed within the social centre, with a structure featuring leaders, a chain of command and a division of roles, which allegedly used Askatasuna's lawful activities as a cover while also planning violent demonstrations against the Tav construction sites in the Susa Valley ^[2]. The separate charge of subversive association, distinct from criminal association, had already been dropped during the preliminary investigation, following a decision by the Review Tribunal (Tribunale del Riesame) and the Court of Cassation ^[2].

Related articles: The prosecutor general seeks 47 years in prison on appeal for Askatasuna activists

Sources

1. Maxi processo Askatasuna, pg chiede condanne per 47 anni carcere — ANSA Piemonte, 26 October 2026
2. Askatasuna, chieste condanne per 47 anni di carcere: «E' un'associazione per delinquere» — CronacaQui Torino, 26 October 2026