(from the correspondent Elvira Terranova) – A charge deemed “monstrous” in a trial in which “the lie is sensational and disturbing” and in which “there is no proof of the political-mafia pact” between the former President of the Sicilian Region, Raffaele Lombardo and the Catania bosses. Lombardo was accused by “unreliable declarers”, as “that forger of Tuzzolino, denied in the courtroom by all the witnesses”. While the former Governor “has always opposed the bosses” and his fight against the very mammasantissima of Cosa Nostra “was not just a facade” but “real”. In over four hours of harangue, the defenders of Raffaele Lombardo, accused of external competition in mafia association and aggravated electoral corruption, reiterated before the Court of Appeal of Catania that the accused “is extraneous” to the charges that are being contested. According to the Public Prosecutor of Catania, represented in the courtroom by Agata Santonocito and Sabrina Gambino, there was a mafia-electoral pact between Lombardo and some members of the Catania mafia. But the defense, represented by the lawyers Vincenzo Maiello and Maria Licata, is not there and argues: “The charge is monstrous because it refers to a multiplicity of electoral competitions indicated in a simplified way – says Maiello – and then it is monstrous because the the effect would be an increase in the prestige of the criminal association, which in itself is not relevant, but above all considering that there is no proof of the electoral agreements, there cannot even be proof of the strengthening of the association “. “The fight of the former Lombard President against the Mafia was not only a facade, with the appointment of two anti-Mafia magistrates in his regional council, as the prosecution says. The accused had already been fighting against Cosa Nostra before and it is proven”, Maria Licata then says in her introduction. “The Attorney General spoke, in the discussion, of the electoral competitions of Niscemi and Mirabelli Imbaccari in 2007. As if we were looking for evidence of a political-mafia pact concerning the complex of competitions using the elections of a remote village. It seems to me a reasoning. which does not appear adequate either on the level of the probative methodology, but not even on the level of the system of logic “. ‘It means affirming a thesis beyond the evidence that is objective “Then the lawyer adds:” It means affirming a thesis beyond the evidence that is objective. ” historical context from which we cannot ignore to tell the facts. It is not true that Lombardo will take on an attitude of fight against the Mafia only on the face when he becomes President of the Region, appointing magistrates “, that is, Caterina Chinnici, now MEP and Massimo Russo, now Prosecutor for minors in Palermo. And remember that” in 2007 yes he voted in many Sicilian municipalities. In the province of Catania alone, 18 municipalities vote. Why am I talking about Catania? Because it is the province within which the Mafia faction gravitates with which the accused, according to the accusation, would have had relations. “Lombardo, RayBan sunglasses and a white mask on his face, accompanied even today by his son, Toti, is sitting in second row and listen in silence to the harangue of the lawyers Licata and Maiello.At the end of the indictment, the Public Prosecutor of Catania, last February 2, had asked for the sentence of seven years and 4 months in prison for the former Governor. The new appeal process stems from the decision of the Court of Cassation to annul, in 2018, with referral to the Court of Appeal, the sentence of the second degree proceeding, issued the year before, which ended with the acquittal of Lombardo from ‘accusation of external competition in a mafia association and the two-year sentence – suspended sentence – for electoral corruption aggravated by the mafia method, but without intimidation and violence. he had reformed the one issued on 19 February 2014, with an abbreviated procedure, by the Gup Marina Rizza who had sentenced him to six years and eight months for competition outside the association. According to the appeal judges of Catania, who had acquitted Lombardo in March 2017, as stated in the motivations, “the summit between the mafia leaders and Raffale Lombardo in June 2003 at the home of” the former president of the Region “is a a fact absolutely devoid of evidence “and” certainly the timing assigned by the Gup is wrong “given that Carmelo Puglisi, who according to the statements of the repentant boss Santo La Causa was present,” in the summer of 2003 was still detained “. ‘And ‘worrying that such a declarative source was used as Iacona’Lombardo was sentenced to two years, suspended sentence, for electoral corruption aggravated by the mafia method. A sentence that had reformed the first instance decision, with an abbreviated rite, of sentencing to six years and eight months, issued on February 19, 2014 by the Gup Marina Rizza. In one of the past hearings, making spontaneous declarations, before the second criminal section of the Court of Appeal of Catania, chaired by Rosa Anna Castagnola, the former President of the Sicilian Region, he had strongly reiterated the political actions undertaken which “strongly opposed Cosa Nostra”. “In this trial the falsehood is sensational, it is disturbing that some texts are still valued by the prosecution. Why does this accusation need to value these witnesses?”, Says the lawyer Maria Licata forcefully, continuing the discussion in the trial of ‘ appeal. And he cites some collaborators of justice, such as Francesco Ercole Iacona. “It is very worrying that such a declarative source may have been used in a trial,” Licata says. But what had Francesco Ercole Iacona said in the courtroom? “Maurizio La Rosa told me that in Agrigento we could support the president of the Region Raffaele Lombardo by giving the vote to Enzo Cirignotta, candidate in Gela, and to his brother-in-law, a certain Pepe or Pepi, I don’t remember. Ciccio La Rocca held it in his hand, at Lombardo, he “caroused” “. For the defense these are “untrue” statements. And he speaks of “inconsistent” declarative evidence. Then he remembers the elections for President of the Sicilian Region. “In January 2008 Cuffaro resigned and on April 13, 2008 there will be a vote – he explains – within the center-right the candidacies begin to be discussed. On February 23, 2008 Lombardo becomes the official candidate of the center-right coalition. The opening of the campaign election date is February 24, 2008 “. And he says: I want to remember that according to the polls, like the one in Demopolis that I recovered, they give the center right at 64 percent. Therefore, it was not a well-fought battle. The outcome of the electoral competition was somewhat obvious. According to polls, does a candidate who starts at 64 percent really feel the need to turn to the criminal gang for help? No “. And again on the repentant-Freemason Tuzzolino:” Mr. Tuzzolino is a falsifier, and in this process he told facts that were unanchored on a historical level. It was denied by all the texts in the courtroom. An incredible, bipolar person who sent the DDA of Agrigento even to New York to look for the fugitive Messina Denaro. And the investigators, who at first give him credit. I was convinced that the Attorney General did not make any reference to Tuzzolino, instead it happened. I jumped in my chair when I read his statements “.” I hope that the Attorney General will take action for the damages committed by Tuzzolino against the judicial administration, “says the lawyer. The collaborator of justice stated that Freemasonry and What Ours would have supported the former President of the Sicilian Region. According to the architect from Agrigento, Lombardo would have been “in contact with exponents of Sicilian organized crime, from the stiddari of Agrigento to the Catanese of Cosa Nostra family, passing through that Calatina”. moreover that the meetings with Raffaele Lombardo would have taken place when he was already installed as president of the Region. Tuzzolino had been denied in the courtroom by various texts, including the architect Calogero Baldo, former father-in-law of Tuzzolino, and the engineer Giovanni Romiti della Politecnica srl. But also from the former secretary general of the Sicilian Region Patrizia Monterosso. The defense will conclude the arringh and defensive in the next hearing, which will be held on May 17. Then space for reruns on July 13 and in mid-September the sentence could be issued. The umpteenth.
