D.i.Re – Donne in Rete contro la violenza – has joined the criminal trial for the femicide of Nicoleta Rotaru as a civil party, alongside the Centro Veneto Progetti Donna, of Padua. The woman was considered a victim of suicide for almost a year, until the elements emerged that led to the indictment of her ex-husband, Erik Zorzi, accused of the femicide and of having staged his wife's suicide.
The civil action – presented for both associations by the lawyer Aurora D'Agostino – is based precisely on the fact that the conduct contested by the defendant is immediately detrimental to the values and purposes of which D.i.King has been a carrier for years and its protection represents one of the primary objectives.
The defendant's violent conduct towards his wife (which, as stated by the same order of pre-trial detention in prison, appears only partially contested, limited to the final event - the killing of the woman) consisted of repeated mistreatment (physical and otherwise), in the presence of the two minor daughters and even towards the girls, mistreatment culminating in the event of the strangulation of his wife on the night between 1 and 2 August 2023, after a night of insults and very serious threats, which continued even during the killing; and finally the perpetrator of the crime went so far as to prepare the simulation of the event in a "suicidal" representation, with a truly particularly intense determination, and which also earned him impunity for over 7 months, in which he not only remained free, but was even able to stay with his two minor daughters.
“The presence of anti-violence centres in courtrooms is important and D.i.Re – Donne in Rete contro la violenza wants to give its support to the local activists and to the relatives of the murdered woman" – declares the president of D.i.King, Antonella Veltri. "The Association's task is to convey closeness, solidarity and strength to those seeking justice, in such difficult times. Seeking the truth, overcoming stereotypes and looking at women as subjects who are prevented from living a free life, will help those working in the field to avoid incurring what is still a frequent situation in cases of violence and femicide: secondary victimization." concludes Veltri.
"We are here as a civil party because femicide is not an isolated fact, or a news story, but the bloodiest outcome of a culture that still does not recognize women's freedom. We think the word of the Anti-Violence Centers is important also to give a new narrative to the phenomenon disconnected from the news and the morbidity of the violent act and because when a woman is killed all women are affected and we would like the entire community to question itself on how to reverse the male chauvinist culture" declares Mariangela Zanni, president of the Centro Veneto Progetti Donna and councilor D.i.King.