TARANTO – «The facts alleged against the former president of the Puglia Region Nichi Vendola occurred in Bari and here the trial must be transferred to Bari». This is what, in a nutshell, was argued by the lawyer Vincenzo Muscatiello, defender of the former governor convicted at first instance in the trial Sold Out Environment to 3 years and 6 months for extortion against the former general director of Arpa Puglia Giorgio Assennato so that he would soften his line against theformer Ilva of Taranto. In the fifth hearing of the appeal process, the defenses continue to raise the preliminary questions and yesterday morning the lawyer Muscatiello took the floor to ask, once again, for the transfer of the documents to the Bari court for the position of Vendola: according to the defender, in fact, the facts alleged against Vendola have no connection with those for which they must answer shore and the other leaders of the Ionian factory.
A thesis already presented in previous levels of judgment and always rejected by the judges: for the prosecutor’s office, and for the Assize Court which in May 2021 condemned the former president of the regional council, in fact the pressure carried out by Vendola would instead be a demonstration of the so-called “Riva system” based on the construction of relationships that would have allowed the factory to avoid actions over the years that limited or blocked production, generating losses for the Riva family companies.
In the 3,700 pages of reasons, he explained to the assize court that the extortion carried out by the former president of the Puglia Region Nichi Vendola against Assennato «is carried out progressively, with a composite conduct, divided into several moments, so that the constraint of the will of the offended person was achieved gradually”…
