Fulvio Croce, was an Italian lawyer, President of the Turin Bar Association, who was killed by the terrorist association Red Brigades.
Biography
He achieved a law degree in 1924. After the Armistice with Italy of 8 September 1943 he joined the Italian resistance movement. He was elected President of Turin Bar Association in 1968. In 1977, in Turin, began the trial against some members of the terrorist association Red Brigades: Renato Curcio, Alberto Franceschini, Paolo Maurizio Ferrari and Prospero Gallinari. At the first hearing of the trial, something totally new in Italy happened: all the defendants refused to be defended by a counsellor and threatened death to any lawyer who would have accepted to be appointed as their counsellor by the court. The defendants contended that the court did not have the authority to judge them. During the first hearing, Paolo Maurizio Ferrari read a statement on behalf of all the defendants: "we proclaim ourselves members of the communist organization Red Brigades. And being communist combatants, we take jointly take the political charge of all the actions of the organization. Given that, we claim there is no legal ground for this trial. The defendants have no reason to defend themselves. On the opposite, the prosecutors have to defend the criminal and anti-proletarian practice of the infamous regime that they represent. To be clear, we repeat our counsellors' power of attorneys and we invite them to refuse any possible appointment ex officio ". The presiding Judge of the Turin "Corte d’Assise", Guido Barbaro, appointed as counsellor of the defendants, Fulvio Croce, in his capacity of President of the Bar Association. Although Fulvio Croce was conscious of the serious danger, he accepted the defence and appointed as co-counsellors some other members of the Turin Bar Association Board of Governors; among them, there was Franzo Grande Stevens who was charged of the defence of Renato Curcio. At the hearing of 7 June 1976, Grande Stevens, in accord with Fulvio Croce, contended that the Article of the Italian Criminal Proceeding Code that compels every defendant, even against his will and even one charged of political crimes, to be defended by a counsellor was unconstitutional. Grande Stevens contended that this article was in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights, which gives everyone the right "to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing". He contended that to be represented by a lawyer is a right, not an obligation. The "Corte d'Assise" rejected this claim of unconstitutionality. Consequently, Fulvio Croce and the other co-counsellors kept defending the members of the Red Brigades. On 28 April 1977, Fulvio Croce was killed. Three men shot at him five times using a Nagant 7.62. The Red Brigades revendicated the action with a leaflets where they stated: "On April 28, 1977 a commando of the Red Brigades has executed the State servant Fulvio Croce."
Memory
On 5 December 1977, Fulvio Croce received the Medal of Honor for his civil merit. The book Vita di un avvocato by Franzo Grande Stevens was published in 2000. The Fondazione dell'Avvocatura Torinese Fulvio Croce was established in 2004. In 2007 RaiTrade and the Turin Bar Association produced the film Avvocato! Il processo di Torino al nucleo storico delle Brigate rosse.
