(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 12 - Three of the seven minors accused of
the gang rape of two cousins aged 10 and 12 in the province of
Naples town of Caivano last year were convicted on Friday at the
end of fast-track trial.
The case shocked the nation, sparking an urban regeneration
scheme and changes to youth criminal law.
Two of the three were given terms of nine years, while the other
got 10 years.
Earlier this month two adults were also convicted in relation to
the case.
The Italian State and its institutions have "made the
difference" at the rundown, crime-dogged town of Caivano,
Premier Giorgia Meloni said in May during a visit to inaugurate
a youth sports centre whose revamp and reopening is seen as a
sign of Caivano's "redemption".
"Although the Caivano challenge was one of my main bets, one of
the government's main bets, perhaps I was not prepared this
morning for the emotion and impact of the difference of what we
faced compared to a few months ago," she said at the reopening,
attended by government ministers and local officials.
"Not just the visual impact but the message that the impact
tells: the State and the institutions can make a difference, the
State can keep its commitments, the institutions can keep their
commitments.
"Here the institutions have behaved as they should always do".
(ANSA).