He's a victim of injustice who goes against the grain. He doesn't rant about the judges, he doesn't shout to the world how much the ten years spent between investigation and trial have hurt him, even though they ended in an acquittal.
Now he speaks – Rinaldo Arangino, the alleged (only alleged) corrupt mayor, limits himself to thanks. "To the Court of Appeal of Cagliari for realizing my innocence and acquitting me after 10 years." Overturning a six-year first-instance sentence . "Despite everything, I continue to believe in fair and impartial justice. A special thanks to my lawyer Massimiliano Ravenna for his professionalism and dedication, and to my family and loved ones for their support and unconditional love." He calls his innocence (because the charges are not proven) "an important step forward, but I remain convinced that justice must always be fair and impartial for all."
Without hard feelings – Mayor of Belvì and deputy provincial coordinator of Forza Italia at the time of the events, and before that, private secretary to a regional councilor, Arangino owes his political suppression to the investigation conducted by the Oristano prosecutors. He was ready to take flight, but they clipped his wings, and more. Yet he bears no resentment. He doesn't express it. "I silently ask the justice system," he limits himself to saying, "to ensure that no one is ever again tried by the media before being tried in court. The truth, in the end, needs no shouting: it speaks for itself. And today it has spoken." He essentially said that Arangino had nothing to do with that system called Mayorpoli, that he didn't pocket bribes, that he didn't rig contracts. In essence: underneath the guise (of an investigation launched with great media hype) there's nothing.
The defense – The favors Arangino allegedly performed as mayor of the municipality of Belvì and president of the Mandrolisai LAG were allegedly compensated by Pinna's groups with assignments given to Arangino's consulting firm. Attorney Massimiliano Ravenna, defending the former mayor, demonstrated that no assignment was ever given. He also dismantled, piece by piece, the accusations that cost former Tonara mayor Pierpaolo Sau four years and three months in the first instance. They accused him of receiving applications for the ASL nursing competition, in exchange for favors for Pinna's group, in which a family friend of Sau's was participating. There is no evidence that these applications were disclosed.
"End of a nightmare" – Surrounded by the love of friends and family, while the phone continues to ring incessantly, Sau takes stock of difficult years: "It's the end of a nightmare," he says from his home in the Teliseri neighborhood. "I experience this sentence as a liberation, certain that I have acted for the common good and never broken the law, along with the good principles that have always inspired me. I am involved in politics solely out of passion and love for my community. I would do it all over again, because I am certain that I have acted with diligence and respect for public property." The mayor, dismissed by judicial proceedings, then goes on to criticize "a slow-moving justice system that has seen me pilloried for ten years, experiencing intense internal turmoil and an endless ordeal." Once I receive the Prefecture's reinstatement order, I will be back at City Hall, ready to embrace my colleagues in the administration, who have replaced me with passion and a sense of duty over these past months. To them - concludes Sau - goes my most sincere thanks, along with my family, my fellow villagers and fellow mayors who always believed in my innocence and never left me alone."
Tonio Pillonca – Giorgio Ignazio Onano