Questione giuridica chiave
Whether qualified hostage-taking under Art. 185(2) CP requires threats to be addressed directly to the hostage rather than to third parties.
Decisione estratta
No. Art. 185(2) CP also applies when the serious threats are addressed exclusively to the third party the offender seeks to coerce, provided the pressure on that third party is clearly more intense than in simple hostage-taking and the offender knew or accepted this.
Motivazione estratta
The statutory text does not exclude threats made only to third parties. Given the aggravated minimum penalty, the decisive point is the additional pressure created; here the victim's family was kept for many hours in acute fear of execution or mutilation, and the appellant knew and accepted this means of coercion.