Cyber Espionage Case: Francesca Maria Occhionero Released After Eight Months in Jail

Francesca Maria Occhionero, accused of cyber espionage and put on trial along with her brother Giulio, a nuclear engineer linked to Freemasonry, has been released after eight months in prison. This decision was made by the single judge of the court of Rome. The judge, however, rejected the application submitted by Giulio Occhionero, who remains in Regina Coeli. The Court accepted the request of the lawyer Roberto Bottachiari, defender of the woman. For the defendant, a mandatory signature requirement was ordered. According to the judge, during the pre-trial hearing, a 'clear downsizing' of Francesca Maria Occhionero's role in the affair emerged. For the brother, however, the evidential framework remains unchanged. The Occhioneros are accused of procuring information concerning the security of the State, aggravated unauthorized access to a computer system, and illicit interception of computer and telecommunication communications. According to the investigators, they would have stolen sensitive data and attempted to violate the email addresses of politicians and institutions. On the engineer's computers, the postal police officers had recovered thousands of files cataloged based on the roles of the spied victims: from Matteo Renzi to the president of the ECB Mario Draghi, up to the former premier Mario Monti.