John Patelli says his son Alessandro is now suicidal in prison after being sentenced to 21 years for stabbing a Tunisian migrant — an act the father insists was self-defense during a violent attack by a group of drug traffickers
The case of Alessandro Patelli, a 19-year-old from Bergamo, reignited fierce debates across Italy over justice, self-defense, and immigration.
Upon returning home in the early afternoon of Aug. 18, 2021, Alessandro was confronted by a migrant gang who, according to his father, assaulted him without provocation. In the struggle, he used a small beekeeper’s knife he carried for work, inflicting fatal injuries on one of the men, 34-year-old Marwen Tayari.
In an emotional interview with La Verità, Alessandro’s father claims his son acted solely in self-defense during the violent assault. “My son is in a cell for defending himself. He was attacked and tripped by a drug dealer. Now he’s depressed and at risk of suicide.”
“He didn’t hunt anyone down,” John Patelli insists. “He was cornered, tripped, and beaten. It was either defend himself or be killed.” The family had private forensic tests conducted, which allegedly uncovered evidence favorable to Alessandro’s version of events — evidence they claim was dismissed during trial.
“I was already on me, I acted out of fear,” Patelli told the court.
The judge, however, considered an alternative version of events, insisting the trivial quarrel that the defendant had with Tayari occurred after the former innocuously bumped into the Tunisian national’s 12-year-old daughter sitting on the communal steps of the apartment block.
During the confrontation, Patelli is believed to have been threatened with a broken bottle — shards of which were found during the police investigation. The court found that Patelli stabbed Tayari six times, and he was subsequently convicted of voluntary homicide.
Despite an appeal last year, the court maintained the original conviction. “They painted my son like a monster,” John says, arguing that prejudice and a rushed investigation led to the harsh sentence.
Now imprisoned, Alessandro’s mental health has sharply deteriorated. “He weighs just 40 kilograms and is under psychiatric care for suicidal thoughts,” John explains.
The Patelli family expresses bitterness over how the media and institutions handled the case, lamenting that their initial trust in the judicial system prevented them from protesting more loudly. “We believed in justice. Now we see it was a tragic mistake.”
John has long campaigned against the court’s ruling, previously posting a viral video on Facebook against the decision and how the prosecution portrayed his son.
“Judged violent and racist, when all of us who know him know that he is neither violent nor racist. He was sacrificed on the altar of political correctness,” he said. “As a father, I cannot accept that. But, even as citizens, we cannot and must not accept it.”
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