The World's Oldest Criminal Case Reopened

Reopening of old closed cases is not new. Often new revelation leads to a reassessment of a previously delivered judgment.

So, what's so special about this case?

What if I tell you that the case is not a few years or decades old, but more than a few centuries old. Shocked?

Yes, you read it right. In Italy, a group of legal experts wants to correct a miscarriage of justice. The task is anything but easy because this case they're talking about is seven hundred years old.

The supposed victim, in this case, is Dante, the one and only Dante, the Italian poet behind "Divine Comedy."

Seven hundred years ago, in 1301 AD, Dante was stripped of a political post he held and sent to exile. Seven hundred years later, his descendant says he was a victim of bias judges and wants to undo this injustice.

They say, "justice delayed is; justice denied."

What if the case is seven hundred years old? That's how long Dante Alighieri, the man Italians called "the supreme poet," has awaited justice.

His descendants now plan to undo what they call a miscarriage of justice. Dante is globally known for producing divine comedy. The most remarkable literary work in the Italian language.

But Dante is still a person with a criminal record in the city of Florence.

It's a fascinating piece of history.

In 1300 AD, Dante was serving as one of Florence's nine elected rulers. But this post landed him in big trouble. In 1301 AD, Dante found himself on the losing side of a feud between Florence's white and black political factions.

Those with the pope were part of the black faction, and those with the holy roman emperor were part of the white faction. The blacks retook Florence in 1301 AD, and the whites were persecuted and tried.

Being part of the white faction, Dante was stripped of his post and sent into exile for twenty years.

He roamed from one city to another, and shortly before he died in 1321 AD, he completed the Divine Comedy.

The Divine Comedy became immortal in history. Giving Dante global recognition. People began sympathizing with his story.

Experts now argue that Dante was a victim of bias judges. Seven hundred years later, legal experts in Paris want to undo what they call a miscarriage of justice.

Alessandra Traversi, the organizing lawyer of trial review, in an interview, said, "Our intention is to verify not only based on the legal principles universally recognized today but also based on the law at this time.

To find out whether they are sentences handed down after a fair trial or whether, on the contrary, they are political convictions to eliminate disturbing adversity. As Dante was for the Blackwells of the time."

On the 21st of May 2021, lawyers, senior judges, and prosecutors will reopen the case. They will assess if the centuries-old verdict against Dante could be the subject of a retrial or ideally be quashed.

Among those seeking justice is an astronomer with a direct bloodline to Dante and the other, a descendant of the judge who exiled him?

Sperello Di Serego Alighieri, who is Dante's descendant, said, "I immediately took it as a fun thing to do, which of course has no consequences because it's not possible. The law firm took care of organizing the day, and we talked a lot about it."

On the other side, Antoine De Gabrielli, the descendant of the judge, said, "The town hall apologized for my ancestor. So I contacted them, telling them how, as a joke, of course. How dare you ask for an apology for the role of my ancestor? After all, if he hadn't exiled Dante from Florence, Dante would never have written the Divine Comedy."

It would be exciting to see what this case offers when it reopens this May of 2021. I also expect that this trial's result may set a precedence for many cases hidden in history books.

They say, " the dead cannot cry out for justice; it's the duty of those living to do so for them."

Dante's case may redefine this saying.

I am definately going to follow the trials as such cases are experience once in a lifetime.

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