The trial for the alleged irregularities committed under the former management of the Book Fair resulted today in Turin in five convictions, and twelve acquittals and acquittals on the grounds of statute of limitations. The legal case specifically concerned allegations of auction fraud linked to the organization of the event in the Lingotto spaces and false accounting linked to the Book and Music Foundation's reports. The name of Piero Fassino, then mayor of the Piedmontese capital, also appeared on the list of defendants, now acquitted. “I am very satisfied – commented the PD representative -. I had reiterated the absolute correctness of my behavior and the sentence clearly and unequivocally recognizes my innocence and my non-involvement in any wrongdoing. An acquittal all the more obvious since the magistrates could simply have taken note of the limitation period. Instead, they wanted to express a judgment of merit that did justice to the transparency and accuracy of my work. »
The shadow of suspicion
“There remains the bitterness – he added – of having suffered from the shadow of suspicion for almost 15 years, when from the beginning it was clear that no facts proved the unfounded accusations made against me “. The former mayor of Turin had to defend himself, as the Mail, of the accusation of bid rigging for the call for tenders awarded to Gl Event and relating to the organization of the 2015 Book Fair and that of the 2016-2018 three-year period. But he was also responsible for disrupting the calls for tenders prepared in March 2016, to guarantee Intesa SanPaolo entry among the founding members of the Foundation and exclusive sponsorship of the Salon. Also acquitted on the merits, like Fassino, the former regional cultural advisor Antonella Parigi. “A sentence which says ‘despite the statute of limitations, I acquit on the merits’ speaks for itself,” commented his lawyer, Luigi Chiappero. Among the five convicted is Giovanna Milella, former president of the book foundation, who was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for a case of ideological forgery.
Read also:
