The order "must ultimately be annulled due to a lack of weighty evidence." This is the summary of the reasons given by the Review Court's judges for the annulment—decided on August 12th—of architect Alessandro Scandurra's house arrest as part of the investigation into Milan's urban planning. The Review Court's ruling is clear, referring to "conjecture," given that "the existence of a payment and the performance of a public function in an alleged conflict of interest would be sufficient for the investigating judge to conclude that a corrupt agreement existed."
For this reason, the preliminary investigations court speaks of a "simplification of arguments" that it defines as "demeaning" on the part of the prosecutor's office and the investigating judge, given that "Scandurra is a high-level professional, the recipient of international recognition. He carried out his duties, for which he received fair compensation," and "there is no evidence of overinvoicing or false invoices." It would be a different matter if the alleged "corruption pact" had been proven, but "this was not the case."
In short, the judge writes, "a confusing factual picture emerges that prevents us from assessing whether Scandurra had actually polarized around himself a circle of entrepreneurs determined to pay him to obtain favorable opinions from the Landscape Commission."
On August 12, the Milan Review Court ordered the release of Milanese businessman Andrea Bezziccheri, the only one under investigation to be jailed. Now, the reasons for this additional decision have been released: "It is not clear from any of the investigative evidence," the Review Court writes in its second order, "that Scandurra was aware of a duty to abstain that was broader in scope than that required by the Building Regulations." And if "Scandurra was unaware, then even more so could not have been Bezziccheri, who certainly was unaware, and was not required to be aware, of the conflict of interest regulations governing members of the Landscape Commission, much less of the relevant forms." According to the Review Court, among other things, "it is unclear on what evidence the investigating judge concluded that the design tasks were entrusted by Bezziccheri to Scandurra because of his public function and not because of his freelance work."
(Unioneonline)
