Difficult morning in the Asti courtroom where the hearing was to be held against Anca Egorov, the woman of Romanian origins on trial for circumvention of an incompetent person, embezzlement and spending of counterfeit banknotes.
Judge Bertelli Motta, who presided over the hearing, had to face two separate rather complicated moments.
The first was the sudden withdrawal of the mandate of the defendant’s two defenders. The lawyers Roberto Ponzio and Stefano Caniggia stated that they could no longer continue the defendant’s defense. Professional secrecy required them not to reveal the reason for this serious decision, but they insisted on the fact that they became aware yesterday afternoon, Sunday, of facts that no longer allowed them to defend Egorov with the serenity required by professional ethics.
The accused, still detained under house arrest and present in the courtroom, confirmed that she had already mandated two other lawyers who, however, were not available this morning, having been appointed yesterday evening.
Judge Bertelli initially “rejected” the dismissal of Ponzio and Caniggia’s mandate, believing that there were no conditions for it, also in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling. But he had to change his mind at the insistence of the two lawyers who, again without revealing the reasons behind their separation, made it clear that they could no longer defend the woman.
A public defender, Piera Icardi, was appointed and the trial was postponed to 4 July.
And here came the second difficult part. Because today it was planned to listen to about fifteen texts in defense of the accused, some of them specially sent to Romania. Not only. Among his witnesses also, somewhat surprisingly, the nephew of the offended party (defended by the lawyer Pierpaolo Berardi with the presence also of the lawyers Racconci and Gai in their roles as support administrator and special curator of the old woman who deposed the last hearing) arrived specifically from Puglia to testify. «I traveled 2,000 kilometers and 20 hours by train to get here from Puglia and now you tell me you won’t listen to me? But if you called me » he told the judge when he was notified of the postponement.
And a heated discussion started, also supported by the other witnesses. «If we don’t come you’ll send us the police, but can you instead make us come and not hear us? We citizens always have only duties.”
Patiently, the judge explained that he understood the disappointment but also that it is a rather frequent occurrence and that the postponement was necessary to guarantee the accused’s right to defence. But for witnesses it is a judicial mechanism that only smacks of mockery and harassment.
The nephew even addressed the accused directly with his hands clasped, pleading: “Please Anca, remove me from your witnesses so I don’t have to go back up on the 4th of July.” Receiving an “ok” from her before the judge reminded everyone that any decision regarding possible waivers had to come from the new lawyers.
With a controversial tail also towards the prosecutor Greco, who intervened to lend a hand to the judge to calm the protests. One of the witnesses took it badly, addressed him directly with an unflattering appreciation, going so far as to ask the prosecutor for an apology.
