Prosecution calls for a reform of the first-degree verdict in the via d’Amelio massacre.
Explain briefly the following article:
“The lower court verdict should be overturned. Both on factual and legal grounds. The acquittal verdict is inconsistent. The contradiction relates to the mafia association which is the most important issue in the whole process. It is considered that the aggravating circumstance exists that would allow the Court to pronounce on the responsibilities of Mario Bo and Fabrizio Mattei but also on that of Michele Ribaudo”. This was stated by deputy prosecutor Gaetano Bono in the opening of his closing arguments in the trial on the tampering of the investigations into the Via d’Amelio massacre being held in Caltanissetta, where policemen Mario Bo, Fabrizio Mattei, and Michele Ribaudo, former members of the Falcone-Borsellino investigation group led by Arnaldo La Barbera, are defendants.
They are accused of inducing the turncoat Vincenzo Scarantino to construct a false truth about the massacre. In the first instance, the prescription led to the dropping of the mafia aggravating factor for Mario Bo and Fabrizio Mattei, while the third policeman, Michele Ribaudo, was acquitted because the act did not constitute a crime. “The lower court verdict – continued Bono – made a poor use of various principles. We are dealing with inadequate reasoning”.
The prosecutor: “The defendants wanted to favor the mafia”
“The tampering was done. The real culprits, both mafiosi and external to Cosa Nostra, must be held accountable. And one hopes that the judicial history will be written in this trial. The purpose was not the trivial one of favoring Arnaldo La Barbera’s career but to facilitate the mafia. The defendants were aware that Vincenzo Scarantino was inventing. Supporting the collaborator in the study of what he had to say was necessary because he was not telling the truth”. Thus deputy prosecutor Gaetano Bono in his closing arguments of the trial.
Arnaldo La Barbera was the head of the investigation group which the three policemen on trial were part of. They are accused of aggravated slander for having favored the mafia. According to the prosecution’s theory, they would have indoctrinated Vincenzo Scarantino to accuse people who had nothing to do with the massacre in which Paolo Borsellino and five police officers of the escort died.
Strage di via d’Amelio, la procura: «La sentenza di primo grado va riformata»
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