Eight years and three months in prison for Antonio Succu, former mayor of Macomer and former head of gynecology at the San Martino hospital in Oristano. Six years and six months for Augusto Cherchi, former head of intensive care and former regional councilor for the Partito dei Sardi. Seven years and six months for Giovanni Piras, former head of the health professions service at the Local Health Authority (ASL 5). And seven years and nine months for Salvatore Manai, former head of nursing at the operating theater.
These are the sentences handed down this morning by the panel of judges of the Oristano Court (presiding judge Carla Altieri, with Serena Corrias and Elisa Marras on her aide) in the Ippocrate trial, which arose from the investigation into alleged rigged hiring and competitions at the Oristano Local Health Authority between 2014 and 2019.
Of the twenty-one charges, only three remained standing, including undue inducement to give or promise benefits. According to the prosecution, supported in court by prosecutor Marco De Crescenzo, "a system had been established in which those who are friends of the powerful find work at the expense of those who are not, a system in which skills and merit are set aside in favor of personal, clientelist relationships. Work is degraded from constitutional right to favor."
At the end of today's hearing, there were also acquittals and the statute of limitations for some of the alleged crimes. The appeal of the convictions is expected: defense lawyers are awaiting the reading of the ruling's reasoning.