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CRIME

Sollecito’s dad criticizes prosecutor over retrial

The father of Raffaele Sollecito, who along with Amanda Knox is facing a retrial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, has criticized the prosecutor general of Perugia for comments made about the case.

Published: 28 June 2013 18:04 CEST
Sollecito's dad criticizes prosecutor over retrial
Raffaele Sollecito is due to be retried for the murder of Meredith Kercher. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

On Wednesday Prosecutor General Giovanni Galati, who successfully appealed the pair’s acquittal, said that Italy’s highest court had “substantially demolished the second-instance judgement” in its decision to release Sollecito and Knox, La Nazione Umbria reported. “A sentence that could not be undone was obviously flawed,” he added.

Francesco Sollecito, the father of the accused Italian, said the statements made by Galati were “unorthodox and improper”, the newspaper said.

“This is still an open process”, Sollecito said ahead of his son's retrial, which is expected to take place either later this year or early next year.

Italy’s supreme court released a 74-page document earlier this month detailing its reason to reverse the pair’s acquittal, citing "numerous examples of shortcomings, contradictions and incoherencies".

Knox and Sollecito were freed on appeal in 2011, four years after Kercher was murdered in Perugia, ending their 26- and 25-year prison sentences.

A third person, Rudy Guede, remains in prison for the murder after his appeal was rejected.

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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