" I will not resign, I am sure I can prove my innocence. I will resign only if the Academic Senate asks me to, which already at the beginning of this investigation expressed its full solidarity, asking me to remain in my position."
This is what the rector of the University of Sassari, Gavino Mariotti, states regarding the request for indictment on charges of mafia-style criminal association and secret association presented by the magistrate of the DDA of Cagliari, Emanuele Secci, against him and 33 other defendants in the Monte Nuovo investigation.
According to the investigations of the DDA and the ROS of the Carabinieri, the defendants, making use of the "force of intimidation" and the "condition of subjugation and silence that derives from it", would have committed "an indeterminate series of crimes of embezzlement, abuse of office, corruption of public officials, possession and dealing of drugs" to "encourage the fugitive status of affiliates" and "ensure protection for members of public institutions, entrepreneurs or professionals".
The Dda contests the rector of having indicated to the extraordinary commissioner of the Aou of Sassari, the name of a doctor, Palmerio Alessandro Delitala, lacking the legal requirements to hold the position of director of Medical Pathology . The position was renewed every 6 months until the director acquired the 7 years of seniority of service necessary for the definitive appointment, through selection.
Mariotti rejects the accusations : "I do not question the magistrate's work. I say that I am able to demonstrate that I have not committed any crime", he claims. "I want to get to the end of this affair. Up to now I have never been heard by either the Carabinieri or the magistrate. Now my lawyers and I will finally have the opportunity to speak and prove that I have absolutely no involvement in any criminal act".
The preliminary hearing will open on February 10, 2025 before the preliminary hearing judge of Cagliari, Luca Melis.
(Online Union)