Centre-left Senator Luigi Manconi will address a news conference in Rome on Friday on the case of photoreporter Mauro Donato, who has been in jail in Serbia since 16 March, the Italian journalists' FNSI union said on Wednesday.
Donato's family, their lawyer Alessandra Ballerini and Donato's friends will also attend the press conference at the FNSI headquarters, the union said.
Donato's family and Ballerini have called on the Italian government to obtain the photojournalist's release from custody. Donato was detained after he allegedly robbed three Afghan refugees who subsequently withdraw their accusations against him.
The Italian government on Tuesday urged Serbia to release Donato from prison "without delay", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The request was made during a meeting in Rome beween, the ministry's director-general for Italians abroad, Luigi Maria Vignali and Serbia's ambassador Goran Aleksic, the ministry said.
Tuesday's meeting between Aleksic and Vignali followed previous "frequent contact" with the Serbian authorities "both in Rome and through the Italian embassy in Belgrade," the ministry stated.
Italian diplomatic envoys have made daily visits to Aleksic in prison, where his physical and psychological state is said to have deteriorated.
