From scandal audio to tragedy: the Zali case and the death of the «Offensiva Animalista» president

The political case surrounding Ticino cantonal councillor Claudio Zali took on a tragic new dimension on 18 August 2026: in Melide, a 52-year-old woman was found dead in Lake Lugano, who in July had circulated the incriminating audio recordings featuring Zali.

The public prosecutor opened an investigation. The cause of death was initially unclear; investigators said they were ruling out no hypothesis. Around ten days earlier, the woman had filed a complaint against persons unknown following an alleged assault in Melide. Whether this incident is connected to her death remained open at the time of going to press. To date there is no officially confirmed link to the political Zali case.

As the association itself confirmed in a message of mourning, this is Elisabetta, the long-standing, «historic» president of Offensiva Animalista, one of the oldest Ticino animal rights groups campaigning against keeping animals in circuses, animal testing and hobby hunting.

To date, Ticino media have not named the deceased in full. This report also refrains from doing so. The designation „Elisabetta“ used here follows solely the public message of mourning from her association; no further personal details are published.

The audio recordings: what Zali said

At the centre of the political scandal are several excerpts from a phone call that took place “some years” ago. The recordings were spread via an anonymous Instagram profile and became widely known to the public through media reports on 22 July 2026. RSI stated that it had listened to the recordings in their entirety, was able to place them in the context of a long-standing acquaintance between the interlocutors, and therefore considered them authentic.

Heard is a phone call between Zali and a woman known to him, who asks for advice on how to get rid of a suspected stalker:

Woman: «Dimmi Claudio cosa devo fare perché tutto questo finisca?»
(“Tell me, Claudio, what should I do to make this stop?”)

Zali: «Riempila di botte sotto casa tua.»
(“Beat her up outside your front door.”)

Woman: «Non posso, non posso.»
(“I can’t, I can’t.”)

Zali: «Perché non puoi?»
(“Why can’t you?”)

Zali: «Io quando è venuta a casa mia l’ho pestata.»
(“When she came to my house, I beat her up.”)

In a second, shorter excerpt, Zali brings up another option:

Zali: «Mi viene in mente di chiamare un amico di Milano che non mi tradirebbe mai.»
(“It occurs to me to call a friend from Milan who would never betray me.”)

Zali: «Non dirmi che non ci pensi anche tu a queste cose, almeno a farlo personalmente.»
(“Don’t tell me you don’t think about these things too, at least about doing it yourself.”)

During the recording, the interlocutor addresses Zali twice by his first name “Claudio” and once by his full name “Claudio Zali”, which helped identify him.

Reaction and political downfall

After publication, the presidents of the PLR, Centre and SP, Alessandro Speziali, Fiorenzo Dadò and Fabrizio Sirica, demanded a public explanation in a letter addressed to Zali; the Corriere del Ticino had reported on this on 22 July. Zali responded with a media release in which he spoke of a “renewed and instrumentalised violation of my privacy” and announced criminal complaints against all those involved, including explicitly against the three party presidents.

At the same time, it emerged that Zali had been under investigation since late June for abuse of office and attempted coercion, in connection with his efforts on behalf of a 14-year-old, the son of an acquaintance, who had been held in La Farera prison. RSI also reported on an older email from Zali dating from 2020, addressed to the management of the Ospedale EOC, in which he lobbied for the employment of an acquaintance and suggested that, to make room, they should «dismiss one of the cross-border commuters with whom [the hospital] is stuffed like a cannolo with cream».

On 29 July 2026, Zali announced in an exclusive letter to Radio Ticino that he would step down from his office at the end of September 2026; the concrete reorganisation of the departments was to be decided after his departure. Regarding the audio recordings, he stated:

«La donna che al telefono ho detto di avere “picchiato” l’ho solo allontanata dalla mia proprietà quando, quasi 10 anni fa, si era presentata nottetempo a casa mia. Per farlo l’ho strattonata, ma non percossa. Mi ha querelato e pochi giorni dopo ha ritirato la denuncia.»

(«The woman I said on the phone I had ‘beaten up’, I merely turned away from my property when, almost ten years ago, she showed up at my house in the middle of the night. To do so I dragged her away, but did not strike her. She reported me and withdrew the complaint a few days later.»)

About the woman on the phone herself, he wrote:

«Quella che ho detto di voler far “picchiare”, da mesi stava assillando me e l’allora mia compagna. […] Il mio era lo sfogo, in privato, di una persona esasperata. […] Non ho picchiato nessuno, non ho mandato a picchiare nessuno. Non sono un violento.»

(«The one I said I wanted to have beaten up had been harassing me and my then partner for months. […] It was the private outburst of an exasperated person. […] I did not beat anyone up, I did not send anyone to beat anyone up. I am not a violent man.»)

RSI also reported on earlier, separately considered allegations from Zali's personal circle. A woman, whom Zali referred to in the recording with the statement that he had «pestata» (beaten) her, had reportedly already filed a complaint in 2017 and later withdrew it. The woman who had published the audio recordings circulated in July on Instagram is said to have filed her own complaint in 2021: she accused Zali of having beaten her and holding her in his car. According to RSI, the complaint was withdrawn following an apology, whereupon the public prosecutor did not pursue the case. These accounts are not judicial findings of the alleged assaults.

She circulated the recordings

After initial uncertain reports, RSI reported that the 52-year-old found dead in Melide on 18 August was the woman who had circulated the audio recordings on Instagram in July 2026. The cantonal police initially told «Blick» that the identity of the deceased had not yet been officially confirmed by the authorities, an indication that the media attribution at the time of the first reports was based on journalistic research and not on an official announcement.

A further detail: the woman had, around ten days before her death, likewise in Melide, filed a complaint against persons unknown with the public prosecutor following an alleged attack. Whether there is a connection between this incident and her death could not be established according to the investigators at the time of reporting; nor, however, was it ruled out.

The death in the Ceresio

On Tuesday, 18 August 2026, at around 5.30 p.m., the 52-year-old, resident in Melide, was found lifeless in Lake Lugano (Ceresio) a few metres from the shore. Passers-by brought her ashore, the cantonal police began resuscitation measures, and the paramedics of the Croce Verde Lugano continued them. The efforts were unsuccessful.

The cause of death had not been officially clarified at the time of going to press. The public prosecutor's office, led by public prosecutor Roberto Ruggeri, opened an investigation and expressly stated that it would not prematurely rule out any hypothesis. The autopsy result was still pending.

Elisabetta and «Offensiva Animalista»

According to the association, Elisabetta was for many years the «historic president» of Offensiva Animalista, a Ticino animal rights group founded in 2009. In its own self-presentation, the group distinguished itself from more moderate animal welfare organisations and, by its own account, relied on direct forms of action rather than signature-gathering campaigns.

The historically documented campaigns and disputes of the group included:

• Against zoos and circuses: years of protest against the Zoo al Maglio in Neggio, recurring demonstrations against the Knie, Nock and Royal circuses
• Against hobby hunting: public criticism of the killing of the predators M13 (bear, 2013) and the «Lince di Kandertal» (lynx), as well as a controversy documented in 2013: after the death of a hobby hunter in the Blenio valley, comments from third parties appeared on the group's Facebook page that were read as «toasting to the death»; Offensiva Animalista publicly distanced itself from this and reported that it subsequently received numerous death threats (sources: RSI, 3 September 2013; Tio, 25 November 2014; Libera TV, 2018)
• Against animal testing: campaign against the Ticino Animal Testing Commission and a demand for the resignation of the then head of department Paolo Beltraminelli
• Further concerns: «Stop Soppressioni» campaign against the killing of healthy pets, repeated actions concerning dog poisonings in Lugano and Biasca

After her death, the association honoured her in a statement by two members, Nadia and Miriam, as a «great animal rights activist» and «great friend» with whom they had, over more than twenty years in the association, «fought and won many battles for animals».