Andrea Rocchelli

Andrea (Andy) Rocchelli (September 27, 1983 - May 24, 2014) was a freelance professional photojournalist, founder and member of the independent photographers collective Cesura.^[1]

Biography

Rocchelli, though only thirty, was an experienced war photographer with a diversified curriculum including several war reports from north Africa and central Asia among others. His photos have been published on a number of world leading journals and magazines. He had a Master's degree from the Polytechnic University of Milan and previously worked at the Grazia Neri photo agency. He was also trained by Magnum Photos photographer Alex Majoli ^[2] Rocchelli is survived by his partner Mariachiara and his son.

Death and Investigation

Rocchelli was killed in Andreyevka, in the proximity of the city of Sloviansk on the 24 of May 2014, while reporting on the war in Donbass. The exact dynamics of his death remain obscure. Rocchelli's car, in which he was travelling with the human rights activist and interpreter Andrei Mironov (also deceased in the attack), French photoreporter William Roguelon and the no better identified driver "Evgeny", was attacked by mortar shells which eventually hit and killed both Mironov and Rocchelli.^[3]

Two investigations on Rocchelli's death are open in Italy (Pavia prosecutor)^[4] and Ukraine but no reports have emerged yet from investigations. The then Italian minister for foreign affairs Federica Mogherini has repeatedly asked the Ukrainian authorities to look into the events^[5] but no major findings have been announced to date. MP Arturo Scotto (Left and Freedom) has presented a parliamentary interrogation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to which vice-minister Lapo Pistelli has replied.^[6]

During the July 2014 visit of Italian Foreign Minister Mogherini to Ukraine, the Ukrainian foreign minister assured that an official inquiry on the death of Rocchelli is ongoing, although no details have been disclosed on the dynamics of the inquiry. The Ukrainian minister has also mentioned the will to visit Rocchelli's family in his next visit to Italy to provide an update on the inquiry.

A year after the assassination of Rocchelli no report or credible information have been officially released by the authorities regarding the status of investigations. This has led to the hypothesis that the Ukrainian authorities may have an interest in leaving this crime non-investigated to hide responsibilities in Rocchelli's and Mironov's death.^[7]

Almost two years after the murder of both Rocchelli and Mironov no reports or official records of the investigation have been released. The Italian prosecutor in Pavia has issued a letter rogatory for the case, which has been formally accepted by Ukrainian authorities. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin has assured his Italian counterpart (Paolo Gentiloni) in 2015 that the authorities would have collaborated with the investigation. Until recently, however, no progress whatsoever has been made in the investigation. Most indicatively, none of the two eyewitnesses Roguleon and the driver "Evgeny", have been interrogated on the event.

In a report published by a local newspaper on the basis of information received by the Italian inquiry on Rocchelli's death it has been reported that Rocchelli's camera has not been found among the evidence collected for the case as it was allegedly missing from the crime scene.^[8] This report is only partly accurate. The camera has been returned to the family but the memory cards of the camera were missing. As a consequence, the photos that have been taken by Rocchelli in the imminence of his death are missing.

In occasion of the second anniversary of the death of Rocchelli and Mironov the Novaja Gazeta ha published a short report on the status of the investigations. The article reports that the Novaja Gazeta (with which Mironov and Rocchelli were in contact during their mission in Ukraine) has sent letters to inquire about the status of investigations in Italy and Russia. The letter to Italy is addressed to the Adjunct Prosecutor of the Procura of Pavia Mario Venditti, and asks about the status of investigations and the testimonies provided by witnesses. Overall the article confirms the slowness or actual immobility of investigations on the case. Furthermore the same source shows the photo of a commemorating concrete stone that has been posed in the place of death of Rocchelli and Mironov.

Also the radio programme "Radio3Mondo" of Radio 3 RAI (the italian national broadcaster) has held a special episode on the death of Rocchelli in May 2016 in which the parents of the photographer have been interviewed by the journalist Roberto Zicchitella. The parents have reiterated their call for the truth on the death of their son and that of Mironov, and denounced that the Ukrainian investigations have failed to produce any result whatsoever on the crime thus far.

On the 25th of May 2016, undersecretary for foreign affairs Vincenzo Amendola has reported to Commission III of the Camera dei Deputati (the Italian parliament lower chamber) on the situation in Ukraine and has declared that Italian diplomatic pressure on the Rocchelli's case in Ukraine is continuing and Ukrainian authorities "must shed light on Rocchelli's death". According to the same declaration the Ukrainian prosecutor's office has recently transmitted documents to Rome and then to the Pavia's prosecutor office.^[9]

The circumstances of the death of Rocchelli and Mironov have been described by witnesses^[10][11] as those of a targeted killing and not an "accident" whereby the car in which the four persons travelling would have been allegedly caught in the fire of a conflict outbreak. Instead, Rocchelli's car was driving in clear sight a a time in which no fire was exchanged between belligerents.

Almost two years after the death of Rocchelli and Mironov Ukrainian authorities are dragging their feet in the investigation and although they voiced apparent support and commitment to the investigation, they do not have implemented measures to clarify the criminal responsibilities related to the death of Rocchelli and Mironov. Italian authorities too have taken a soft stance on the matter when considering its gravity.

Ucrainian authorities closure of investigation and lack of verdict

On the 10th of October 2016 a report written by Lucia Sgueglia is published on the Italian magazine "l'Espresso".^[12] The report contains an extensive interview Rocchelli's parents who describe the partial and rushed nature of the Ukrainian investigation on Rocchelli's and Mironov death. The interview highlights the fact that Ukrainian authorities have shared -after repeated requests from the Italian authorities- a final report of the investigation. But this report, though long, is characterized by a number of deficiencies that undermine its credibility. According to Rocchelli's parents the report does not contain the testimony of one of the two eyewitnesses to the crime: the photographer Francois Roguelon, while the testimony of the driver contains omissions and plain false statement. No member of the Ukrainian army has been heard on the event, notwithstanding the fact that troops were deployed in the area. Furthermore the ballistic analysis is inconclusive and does not identify neither the origins of the shells nor the type of projectiles used. The investigation, that Ukraine wanted to declare closed, does not identify a culprit and only advances hypothesis, one blaming rebel groups and another considering the possibility of an incident caused by Ukrainian troops. No verdict, is reached as result of a lousy investigation which highlights the unwillingness of Ukrainian authorities to shed light on the crime.

Recovery and publication of the last photos of Rocchelli

As part of the report of l'Espresso on Rocchelli in October 2016, the last photos taken by Rocchelli in the minutes in which he was under attack have been published.^[13] The dramatic images show the group of five taking refuge in a deep moat, a fifth person, and not only four persons as generally thought, is present and has never been heard by the authorities. The pictures show that the hypothesis of accidental shooting is at least unlikely if not impossible. As declared by Roguelon, according to Rocchelli's parents, the group has been a deliberate clear target of tens of rounds of light and heavy ammunition including the mortar shots that killed Rocchelli and Mironov. They are not an incidental casualty caught in cross-fire.

Demands for high-level political engagement with Ukraine

As a result of the slow pace and poor quality of the investigation as well as its inconclusiveness, Rocchelli's parents have asked Italian authorities to step up the pressure on Ukraine, an ally and economic partner of Italy, to implement a more thorough and conclusive investigation. There are no reports yet that show whether Italian authorities have decided to take measures that reflect Rocchelli's family request. Similarly, Reporter Sans Frontiers in November 2016 has asked the French authorities to continue their investigations on the attacks, which have initiated as a result of a complaint filed by Francois Roguelon: the French photographer present at the time of Rocchelli and Mironov death.^[14]

On the 21s of November 2016, following the report of l'Espresso on the poor quality of Rocchelli's and Mironov's investigation Senator Luigi Manconi of the Italian Democratic Party met with the parents of Andrea Rocchelli and in a press statement the Democratic Party Senators Group have acknowledged that the "Ukrainian inquiry has reached a dead-end at this point and the documentation [sent to the Italian authorities] has not clarified who has shot to the journalists".^[15]

Exhibitions and works

In 2015 The Museo di Roma in Trastevere has hosted a retrospective exhibition of Andrea Rocchelli's work entitiled "Stories".^[16]

In 2014 the Ilaria Alpi Association has publicized the work of Andrea Rocchelli in an exhibition called Ukraina Revolution in San Marino in which the last 20 photos of Rocchelli were exhibited.^[17]

Spazio Reale in Monte Carasso (Switzerland) has hosted an exhibition of Rocchelli's photos in Ukraine under the title Evidence.^[18]

The Cesura Collective has organized a comprehensive retrospective of Rocchelli's work in Pavia from 5 June to 5 July 2015.

Rocchelli's posthumous work "Russian Interiors" - a photographic investigation of femininity in Russia - is being currently published by Cesurapublish via crowdfunding.^[19]

Prizes

In June 2015, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has awarded a commemoration plate dedicated to those fallen for OSCE values in conflict dedicated to Andrea Rocchelli to Rocchelli's family.^[20]

Andrea Rocchelli and Andrei Mironov were posthumously awarded the Kamerton Prize named after Anna Politkovskaya on 7 September 2014.^[21]

In 2015 Andrea Rocchelli was the recipient of the 2nd Prize of the section Portraits, Stories of the World Press Photo contest.^[22] The award was given for his work "Russian Interiors". The motivation for the prize reads:

Russian women are portrayed in the interiors of their own homes, in the moments just before or after posing for a photograph that would be used for a dating website.^[23]

The 2014 Ponchielli prize for photography has been dedicated to the memory of Rocchelli.^[24]

References