Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi on Monday welcomed a ruling by Thailand's Supreme Court that cleared Italian citizen Denis Cavatassi in the murder of a business associate, charges over which he was sentenced to death in 2016.
“The good news of the important acquittal sentence handed down by the Thai Supreme Court this morning will enable Denis Cavatassi to return to Italy and embrace his family," Moavero said a statement.
Italy's embassy in Bangkok has followed the "complex" case involving Cavatassi since his arrested in 2011 over the murder of his business partner Luciano Butti, who was shot dead in Phuket in 2011.
The embassy worked "in close cooperation" with the foreign affairs ministry to assist Cavatassi "while continuously dialoguing" with Thai authorities, Moavoero said.
Cavatassi has always proclaimed his innocence in the 15 March 2011 murder of Butti, who had allegedly embezzled around 4,500 dollars from an Italian restaurant they ran together on Thailand's Phi Phi Island.