Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the collapse of the Morandi Bridge on August 14, 2018. The manager is charged with negligent collapse and vehicular homicide.
This is the first-instance ruling issued by judges at the Genoa Court. The verdict comes eight years after the tragedy of August 14, 2018, which claimed the lives of 43 people . For Castellucci, who led ASPI from 2005 to 2019, the prosecutor had requested 18 years and six months. The former ASPI leader is already serving a sentence for the 2013 Monteforte Irpino (Avellino) viaduct disaster.
Numerous former top officials from ASPI, SPEA, and the Ministry of Infrastructure were also convicted.
Eleven years for Michele Donferri Mitelli (former number three at ASPI) : the prosecutor had requested 15 years and six months. A sentence of 5 years and six months was requested for Paolo Berti (former number two at ASPI) , who had received 12 years and six months. The same sentence was also requested for Antonino Galatà (former CEO of Spea), for whom the prosecutor had requested 7 years.
Mauro Coletta, former director of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport's motorway concession supervision, was sentenced to 5 years in prison .
"We sought the culprit, but not the guilt. Castellucci was convicted without guilt. His only crime was his innocence," said the lawyer defending the former ASPI CEO after the conviction. "We will continue to fight for his innocence," he concluded, "and we are confident that the appeal will right what we believe to be a mistake."
Numerous relatives of the victims were present in the courtroom. The reasons for the indictment are now awaited, and will be filed within six months.
Zero maintenance, deteriorated structures, poorly conducted or even nonexistent checks at some crucial points of the viaduct. This is the modus operandi contested by the Prosecutor's Office against ASPI and SPEA .
(Unioneonline)