Gregoretti falls on Conte: in court with four ministers

The stay of the judge for the preliminary investigations in Catania lasted two hours, Nunzio Sarpietro, inside the council chamber in which the investigation for the Gregoretti case after the first preliminary hearing.

The device read by the Gup actually accepted the defense line of Matteo Salvini: in fact, the hearing has been updated to next November 20, the date on which other members of the executive of which Salvini himself was minister must also be heard. In particular, the Gup of the Etna tribunal has decided that he also wants to hear the president of the council in the courtroom Giuseppe Conte, as well as the current Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and the then Minister of Infrastructure Danilo Toninelli. The current owner of the Interior Ministry will also be called, that is Luciana Lamorgese.

For the secretary of the League it is a first victory as the decision of the Gup would seem to reveal the acceptance of Salvini’s position, namely that the hard line aimed at not letting migrants disembark on board the Gregoretti was not the result of a personal choice but of an internal confrontation with the executive of the time.

It was then the same defense of Matteo Salvini to ask for a hearing for the minister Lamorgese. And all this to compare the behavior of the Northern League secretary on landings with that of the new Minister of the Interior later: “We asked to hear the Minister of the Interior Lamorgese to confirm that the procedure used by Salvini is the same as that followed today. – confirmed Salvini’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno – But we did not ask to hear also Conte and Di Maio or other members of the government “.

The Prime Minister himself has also pronounced himself on the case in the past few hours: “I am absolutely available and will report if the judiciary calls. God forbid – said Giuseppe Conte – Even a political leader must immediately answer for the circumstances he is aware of, in full transparency, as I have always done and as I always will “,

At the end of the trial phase, the Prosecutor Andrea Bonomo had asked Salvini to be archived and the non-place to proceed. A decision similar to that already taken by the Etna prosecutor last year.

The long Saturday marked by the first hearing on the Gregoretti case ended in this way. A day that started early for the main protagonists, with Salvini meeting in Catania at around 9:00 the other leaders of the center – right, namely Giorgia Meloni and Antonio Tajani. A coffee taken between the three politicians aimed not only at expressing solidarity with the secretary of the carroccio but also at marking political unity among the members of the coalition formed by Lega, Fratelli d’Italia and Forza Italia.

Salvini’s statements

Before the outcome of the first hearing, Salvini had entrusted his main statements to social media. On Twitter, the former interior minister said he felt calm and calmly awaited the ruling of the Gup. In the morning, before going to court, the leader of the League had made it known that he was not at all sorry for the actions for which he is accused. However, neither he nor others have released live statements within the court, with the hearing then taking place behind closed doors.

In the hours immediately following, the former minister once again entrusted his thoughts to social media: “I was calm – we read on Twitter – And now I will go home more calm”.

“Let me say – continued the former owner of the Interior Ministry – that I am very satisfied to have heard a judge say that I did not do it alone”. However, the same number one of the League spoke of the innocence of the other members of the government who will be called to the court: “The three key letters are ‘po-ì. First we relocate the immigrants and then there is the disembarkation – added Salvini. – I refuse to say that Conte and Toninelli are guilty too, they are innocent too “.

Salvini also launched a dig at the Minister of Justice, Alfonso Bonafede, after the incident that happened to his lawyer Giulia Bongiorno: “I want to tell a truly surreal side note – declared the Northern League secretary – lawyer Bongiorno entered the Court on her own legs and got out in a wheelchair because waiting for the judge to leave the council chamber a marble slab weighing 50 kg, it detached itself from the wall and fell on Giulia Bongiorno’s ankle, halfway between the ankle and the tendon. Tell me if it’s normal “.

“Obviously I do not give the responsibility to the President of the Court – continued Salvini – I ask Minister Bonafede if it is normal for marble slabs to come off the legs of the lawyers present in a court. I think that one process will close and another will open. “.

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