Liguria. Certainly not an admission of guilt from a criminal point of view but more of a political fine, after the judicial earthquake that has left him under house arrest for a month and a half. Giovanni Toti in the appeal to the Court of Review – filed this morning by the lawyer Stefano Savi against the order of the investigating judge who rejected the request to revoke house arrest a week ago – reiterates that the risk of repetition of the crime evoked by the judge does not exist even if he returns to exercise his functions as president of the Region Liguria. And he explains why.
The appeal for review: “Toti would no longer act as before”
In the document Toti, through his lawyer, follows the previous request already presented to the judge and clarifies not only that the risk of recurrence is not there because at the moment, after the European elections in which his party did not present itself, there are no elections expected in the short term, but also because anyway although he is convinced that he has always acted in the public interest and within the limits of the law, he would no longer act as before. Especially on how to finance political activity.
“AND’ to exclude that Giovanni Toti can again, with the same approach, take an interest in such events or, simply, ask private individuals for funding” writes Savi in the appeal. Because although Toti “was firmly convinced that he acted for the good of the public interest and always acted in formal compliance with the rules” it is evident that “in light of the current judicial affair […] it is to be excluded that “the disputed methods can be reiterated if only in order to exclude the emergence of new criminal charges”.
In other words, Toti “is perfectly aware of the accusations made against him and the concrete conduct contested” for which “his desire not to engage in conduct even if only abstractly relevant from a criminal point of viewor will certainly refrain from continuing in a different way reading given in the context of this proceeding, is considered illicit or in any case not due”.
The wiretap on “car noise” at the Cicale Bistrot
It is also reported in the order in which the investigating judge Paola Faggioni said no to the revocation of house arrest an interception in which the President of the Region, in organizing a meeting with Paolo Emilio Signorini (who is still in Marassi prison as part of the same investigation) had suggested going to lunch outdoors at the Le Cicale Bistrot restaurant in Albaro where “There’s space, no one bothers us and we can talk…cars pass by, there is background noise...”.
According to the judge, this interception would be proof of Toti’s will to evade any investigations. In the appeal to the Review Savi clarifies how in that meeting which “was no longer held outdoors due to the yellow alert” there were not two interlocutors, but three. In addition to Toti and Signorini he was in fact also supposed to participate Mauro Vianellopresident of the basins body as well political exponent of the Democratic Party (he was also investigated in the investigation and hit by interdictory measure). For Savi, therefore, it was completely legitimate for Toti to propose a match that had some minimal characteristics of “confidentiality”, while in the lawyer’s opinion there would have been no elusive purpose.
The investigating judge’s no to the revocation of house arrest
A week ago, the investigating judge Paola Faggioni, in defining the risk of repetition of the crime as “concrete and current”, had taken up an information from the financial police filed on 12 June. From these recent investigations it emerged that during the electoral dinner organized by Toti on April 14th this year as always at Villa Lo Zerbino, in view of the 2025 regional elections, Spinelli had as usual guaranteed his participation in the dinner (10 people equal to 4500 euros) but in addition to the dinner there would probably also be further funding in the following weeks. All this after a lunch in Monte Carlo between Toti and his wife and Aldo Spinelli (which took place on 23 March this year and was confirmed by both Spinelli and Toti. Well speaking with the secretary Toti “evidently on the basis of prior agreements again with Spinelli – writes the judge – she was referring to a sum she would have received from Spinelli, in addition to the “official” amount for participation in the electoral dinner: “Spinelli told me it seats 10. Then the rest… we adjust“. For the judge, therefore, it was proof that Toti – just before the arrest – continued to act illegally.
Lawyer Savi: “There are no longer any precautionary needs”
“In light of the progress made by the investigations with the new ones witnesses heard by the prosecutors, as well as by the imposing amount of evidentiary material collectedalso in light of the interrogation of Toti himself, of the awareness of what was contested as a crime, of the publicity of the investigation itself, of the absence of imminent elections (the next ones will be the renewal of the Regional Council in which Toti will not be able to participate due to current legislation), we believe that the need for house arrest no longer exists” explains the lawyer Savi in a note in which he confirms the filing of the appeal to the Review.
The lawyer then underlines the need “to balance procedural needs with those of the popular mandate, deemed worthy of protection by current legislation and the Constitution”. Subject to the total revocation of the measure, the request for review envisages “its transformation into a less afflictive measure and compatible with the political evaluations necessary at the moment”.
The hearing before the Review, which focuses exclusively on precautionary needs, has not yet been established. Probably considering the times for sending the documents e the other appeals already scheduled (that of Signorini on 28 June and that of one of the Testa twins on 8 July) could be set around the second week of July.
