Gianni Alemanno was released from Rebibbia prison this morning, shortly before 10:00 a.m. The former mayor of Rome is leaving prison after " an ordeal lasting 1 year, 5 months, and 24 days, which should never have begun ." " I am innocent ," Alemanno maintains, "because the crime for which I was convicted (influence peddling for abuse of office) has been abolished, and because there is much to be said about the circumstances that led to the complete revocation of my probation. But that's the way Italian justice is, especially for those who try to swim against the grain."
Yesterday, the former mayor had already shared his thoughts on detention in a message: " A piece of my heart remains here in Rebibbia , within the walls of prisons without justice, in cells where people die of heat." Alemanno then recalled what he calls "the only victory" achieved during his time in prison: "President Mattarella's granting of a partial pardon to Antonio Russo, the poor 88-year-old and sick man who has been in here for six years."
"Do you think he's been released? Absolutely not," he adds, "because between magistrates who weren't informed of the pardon, medical reports that weren't arriving, "treatment summaries" that needed to be finalized, and a thousand other bureaucratic devilries, not even the President's clemency orders were able to break down the damned wall of silence." Finally, the jab : " Not everyone is so lucky as to receive a pardon before going to prison like Minetti ..."
(Unioneonline)
