Six days of waiting, a warning but no sentence. This is the epilogue of the story that involved the Blue swimmers Benedetta Pilate and Chiara Tarantino, Stop on August 14 at Singapore airport on charges of theft.
Benedetta Pilate and Chiara Tarantino stops for theft
Benedetta Pilato19 years old, who had just conquered the fifth consecutive world medal in the 50 frogs, and Chiara Tarantino, 21, were returning from a holiday in Bali together with other teammates when they were blocked by the Singapore airport police, where they made a stop. The news emerged only after their return to Italy, between contradictory reconstructions and inaccurate details.
The holiday in Bali had been organized at the beginning summerduring the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome: ten days of relaxation on the Indonesian island, after i Singapore swimming World Cupin the company of a group of eight blue athletes, including Sofia Morini and Anita Bottazzo. They too stop in Singapore, but released almost immediately.
According to the images of the cameras inside the Duty Free, Chiara Tarantino would have slipped Two bowls of essential oils in the Pilate backpack. A defined gesture of “particular tenuity”, without profit purposes, but sufficient to immediately trigger the check. The four swimmers were in fact stopped in the gate, just as they prepared to embark.
The search took place in front of the passengers waiting: Morini and Bottazzo was asked to open the luggage by hand, results immediately in order. For them the problem limited itself to lost flight And the need to buy a new ticket. While Pilate and Tarantino were brought to Airport police station Having found the two bowls that had been reported by the police video surveillance in the backpack of Benedetta.
Warning and return to Italy
The two Italian swimmers were subjected to Personal search and long interrogations And they were then forced to remain six days in a hotel, formally free but with the ban on leaving the country. In the meantime, Italian diplomacy has been activated: the ambassador Dante Brandi, absent from Singapore, followed the story through his deputy, keeping a direct line with the Farnesina and with the Italian Swimming Federation. The latter, in a note released in recent days, has distanced himself from the episode, underlining how it happened outside the federal activities and reserving the right to “carefully evaluate the story”.
In the end, the local authorities decided to Do not inflict fines or sanctionsbut they still emitted a Warningan official warning. The ok to repatriation came only on August 18, after a severe interview with the commander of the airport authority, who returned to service from the holidays. The next day Pilate and Tarantino were able to embark and the August 20 returned to Italy.
«I was involved in spite of me. I have never intended to make inadequate gestures, “wrote Benedetta Pilate on social networks, taking off from the incident.
Source: Vanity Fair
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