Acquittal requested for the professors, grant holders, and university researchers. Eleven in total, charged in Sassari on various counts of ideological forgery, interference with the freedom of auctions, auction rigging, and interference with the freedom of the contractor selection process.
In a trial that reached the capital of Sassari as an offshoot of the national investigation, initiated by the Florence prosecutor's office and conducted by the Guardia di Finanza, dating back to 2016-2019, which alleged rigged tenders and distributed teaching positions at universities. The alleged corruption scheme, according to the initial charges, also found fertile ground in the Sassari area, and, as reported, eleven people were indicted, with the trial scheduled for 2022.
Today in court, the prosecutor Giovanni Porcheddu discussed, at the end of the preliminary investigation, focusing in particular on the episode of ideological forgery contested against the professor Francesco Pepe, the full professor of tax law, Valerio Ficari, who at the time taught in Sassari, Fabrizio Amatucci, full professor of tax law, and Franco Paparella, also a professor of tax law.
The accusation dates back to 2016, when, according to the investigation, there was a sort of fix to allow Pepe to win the research position at the university of Turritano, also with the participation of Guglielmo Fransoni, a professor of tax law, the latter accused only of bid-rigging.
According to the prosecutor, Pepe compiled a draft of the tender itself, which was then submitted to the panel of evaluators, composed of Ficari, Paparella, and Amatucci, who met remotely. The document, as Porcheddu recalls, had blank spaces, and the commissioners made 10 changes to it.
The magistrate focuses precisely on this aspect, requesting an acquittal because the fact does not exist. "The draft was evaluated and not accepted uncritically," he states.
Request for acquittal on the other charges of obstruction of the freedom of auctions, obstruction of an auction, and obstruction of the freedom of the contractor selection process in relation to research grants for the accused Paolo Barabino and Luca Cattani.
