Prosecutor Gregorio Capasso has asked a court in Tempio Pausania, Sardinia, to impose nine-year prison sentences on Ciro Grillo and three fellow defendants accused of gang rape. The request, delivered on 1 July, covers Grillo as well as Edoardo Capitta, Vittorio Lauria and Francesco Corsiglia. The four men are charged with sexually assaulting a then-19-year-old Italian-Norwegian student during the night of 16–17 July 2019 at the Grillo family’s Porto Cervo residence, after meeting the victim and her friend at a Costa Smeralda nightclub. Investigators say the defendants forced the woman to drink and then abused her multiple times; the men insist the encounters were consensual. Grillo, a 24-year-old law graduate and son of Five Star Movement founder Beppe Grillo, appeared in court for the first time on 30 June, where he declared himself innocent and said he "believes in justice." The co-defendants have also denied the charges. The court is scheduled to hear from civil parties and the alleged victim’s lawyer next. A date for the verdict has not yet been set.