The trial of the governor of Sardinia Christian Solinas opened before the judges of the Second Criminal Section of the Court of Cagliari, accused of abuse of office in the investigation into the appointments of two general directors of the regional administration: Silvia Curto as president and Antonio Pasquale Belloi as civil protection. With President Solinas, the regional councilor Valeria Satta is also on trial, at the time for General Affairs, now for Agriculture, accused not only of abuse of office but also of attempted extortion.
After some preliminary objections raised by Solinas' defense lawyer, the lawyer Salvatore Casula, the public prosecutor Andrea Vacca called to the witness stand Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Locco, of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza which conducted the investigation.
The investigator clarified that Antonio Belloi, a firefighter, would have had a non-top role in the hierarchical ladder of the Corps and that the investigations made it possible to establish that he was in any case not a fire brigade manager. The first phase of the debate therefore focused on whether or not the future director of the Sardinian Civil Protection had the requirements and qualifications required by law to obtain the position, one of which concerned having directed public offices, bodies or private companies for at least five years.
The financier then reiterated that in the documents there is no trace of a request for an opinion from the legal area or the State Attorney's Office to understand whether Belloi met the requirements or not. The panel reserved the right to decide whether to admit part of the telephone records, the acquisition of which was contested by the defense because it occurred after the formal closure of the investigations.
In the preliminary hearing, on the same facts, the Gup Ermengarda Ferrarese had instead sentenced the head of cabinet of the Presidency of the Region, Maria Grazia Vivarelli, magistrate of the Council of State, to two years and eight months, who had chosen to be tried with the abbreviated procedure. She is accused of abuse of office and undue inducement. An appeal hearing has already been scheduled against that conviction. The trial of Solinas and Satta, defended by the lawyer Massimilano Ravenna, was adjourned until October 20th.