Joke or crime? The trial against the former commander of the Alà dei Sardi Carabinieri station is getting underway in Sassari , accused of extortion and forgery of a public document . Testifying in court yesterday was the accused himself, who holds the rank of marshal and is currently serving in northern Italy.

The case revolves around 18 identical sheets of paper prepared by the non-commissioned officer in 2022, in which he had written a false service report accusing a station corporal of improper conduct.

"It was all a joke ," the marshal reported in court before the panel, presided over by Giancosimo Mura, with Sara Pelicci and Stefania Mosca-Angelucci on his sides. "You can tell by the heading to the military prosecutor and the commander, as well as the lack of a protocol number, which is never used in these cases."

But above all, it's the content, he adds, responding to questions from his defense attorney, Giuseppe Onorato. It would be difficult, he summarizes, to discern any meaning in that note, from an accusation against a subordinate of using a smartphone on duty to the arrival of children ringing the barracks bell, a clear leap in logic.

"It's a fake. Waste paper," he says, later claiming he committed the prank in reaction to criticism his subordinate had made of him to other soldiers because he was often late to the station.

The issue, however, being explored in court yesterday, is whether the other man had had the opportunity to read that piece of paper or whether, instead, it had simply been shown to him remotely by a folder containing threats of potential disciplinary proceedings. "He had read it," the marshal reported, "and had a confused reaction."

During the trial, this factor is also being explored, relating to the discovery of the files in 2023, after the sergeant was transferred to another barracks. In court, prosecutor Angelo Beccu then referred to another piece of paper, also drawn up by the defendant, which the injured party in the trial was supposed to sign. Essentially, it was a sort of apology for the accusations leveled against the sergeant. Otherwise, the defendant allegedly said, "I'll make your life impossible." "But that wasn't the case," the non-commissioned officer emphasized, noting that it was another prank and that the sergeant had actually had Sundays to spare. "We had a good relationship afterward. He even asked me for advice, and then, after a year and a half, the complaint came."