Liguria. The deadlines expire on Friday, but the investigating judge’s decision could arrive as early as today Paola Faggioni on therequest for the revocation of house arrest for the Ligurian president Giovanni Toti presented on Monday by the lawyer Stefano Savi. The Prosecutor’s Office gave a negative opinionfearing not so much the risk of repeating the crime, but that of evidence pollution until the preliminary investigation phase is completed.
It was no coincidence that Savi had filed the request the morning after the elections, given that one of the reasons given in the precautionary detention order was the danger of repeating the alleged mechanism corruptive on the occasion of the upcoming vote. According to the lawyer, the precautionary requirements, including the protection of evidencesince “the very presence of the investigation, with the objections raised by the prosecutors”, would be “such as to inhibit any repetition of similar actions to those contested, awaiting judgement”.
In case of revocation of house arrest a lighter measure could be takensuch as the obligation to sign, which in any case however it would not prevent Toti from returning to office as president, given that the suspension is linked exclusively to his current physical impediment. And this element, according to the prosecutors, it would jeopardize the investigation, which are still in full swing. This point was also contested by Savi: “The suspension from the function of president linked to the precautionary measure would be characterized as a real forfeiturenot provided for by law precisely to protect the popular will expressed through free elections”.
Proving that the investigation is far from over is the raid carried out yesterday by the financial police in the Region building. The soldiers of the economic-financial police unit combed through the offices of the general secretariat for hours, a sign that potentially crucial documents for the development of the investigations still exist. Add to this that the magistrates still have to hear several witnesses (including the mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci) and that analyzes are still underway on the devices seized from the suspects. For all these reasons it is very likely that the request will be totally rejected, as had happened in recent days for the entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli and for the former president of the Port Authority Paolo Emilio Signorini.
The issue of house arrest is a political, as well as judicial, crossroads. The hypothesis of resignation in exchange for freedom has been ruled out several times (even by Toti himself, in the message sent to the Regional Council), everything will remain frozen until the governor can directly confront his allies. Who for over a month have been repeating that “he will decide”, even if it seems obvious that the control of the situation is in the hands of the national party leaders (Salvini, Tajani and above all Meloni) who will have to evaluate whether it will be better to continue with a president under investigation or face new elections to remove the tooth.
In short, the times are expected to be quite long. A wait that all in all is convenient for everyone, because voting after the summer would mean having ready alliances and above all candidates. The centre-right and progressives will start talking about it seriously once the second round of the local elections and the European Commission are over. And both sides know that this time the name cannot be mistakengiven the substantial balance drawn by the vote for the European elections which can only break with the emergence of one figure capable of convincing the most uncertain electorate. Including abstentionists who now, in Liguria and beyond, count for 50%.
