Negotiation, Berlusconi witness chooses to avail himself of the right not to answer

No answer, but also no image. A photo of should not exist Silvio Berlusconi sitting at the witness stand of the Appeal process on Negotiation between pieces of the State is Cosa Nostra. The former prime minister, as we know, is a television man: he could never consent to being filmed in the center of the prison bunker Ucciardone of Palermo, the one built for the Maxi Trial? What a shock it would have been for the image of the leader of Forza Italia be portrayed in the same chair as the testimony of Tommaso Buscetta? So here is that of the former prime minister there are only the hands that grab the microphone to whisper a few definitive words: "On the advice of my lawyers, I I have the right to remain silent. Thank you, thank you all. " A few seconds, even less than expected, given that the Assise d 'Appello court forgot to ask the general witness for the illustrious witness.

That didn't help Dell'Utri – A silence announced that of Berlusconi Silvio, born in Milan on September 29, 1936. In fact, the former prime minister was a witness witnessed, since he was under investigation for a Florence-related crime: he was entered in the register of suspects of the Tuscan prosecutor's office for the 1993 massacres in Milan, Florence and Rome and for the 1994 attacks. A status that allowed him to remain silent. And never mind if in this way it has not helped the friend of a lifetime: Marcello Dell’Utri, sentenced in the first instance to the Negotiation for 12 years in prison. He had been the lawyer of the former senator, Francesco Centonze, to ask for the deposition of Berlusconi. A quote that had prompted the former prime minister's lawyers, Niccolò Ghedini is Franco Coppi, to be certified by the prosecutor of Florence the 23 disputes brought against their client. A documentation that for Berlusconi has had the effect of a "shield": the former prime minister has been able to avail himself of the right to remain silent. However, he could not avoid appearing in the courtroom.

B's day: touch and escape in Palermo – Forced to come to Palermo, after a first forfeit due to his activity as an MEP, Berlusconi opted for a quick visit: he arrived at the airport Falcone Borsellino in the morning, anticipated by his escort who took him and led him to the bunker, where his lawyers had arrived a few minutes ago, Niccolò Ghedini is Franco Coppi. The former prime minister waited in the witness room and made it known that he did not want to be filmed before entering. So he sat in front of the judge Angelo Pellino and formalized his silence, before fading back into the belly of the bunker.

An appointment with a high symbolic value – Although short, today's was still an appointment with a high symbolic value. After twenty-five years of investigations and trials on the links between the mafia and its right-hand man, founder of Forza Italia and senator after being Publitalia's number, after complicated inquiries the former prime minister was finally forced to fly to the Sicilian capital. Until today he had always managed to avoid it, managing to be questioned – when discussing mafia and massacres – away from the spotlight of a public hearing and the city that gave birth to his friend Marcello. But also a Vittorio Mangano, the boss of Porta Nuova enlisted as a stable boy in Arcore in 1974.

Marcello Dell'Utri's defense request rejected The defense of Dell'Utri shortly before had asked to screen a video with a press conference by the former president of the Council. 20 April 2018, a few hours after the first instance verdict on the Negotiation, Berlusconi declared that his government had never received mafia threats. Which is what Dell’Utri lawyers would have liked to have heard in court if the former prime minister had not used the right to remain silent. The general prosecutor, however, opposed the request: "This is a courtroom, not a television studio" said the deputy pg Giuseppe Fici. After a few minutes in the council chamber, the judges rejected the request because the video has already been acquired in the proceedings and "therefore it can be viewed by the court at any time and there is no reason to project it in the courtroom". The court has ordered the transcription of the contents of the interview to facilitate the consultation of the parties. Then he let in the witness, who however refrained from repeating the statements made to the press on the day of the sentence.

The questions ready for the B – Choosing silence, Berlusconi did not accept Dell'Utri's defense request, accused of having become the bearer of the threat of Cosa nostra to the first Berlusconi government in 1994. The former prime minister could have defended the friend of a lifetime, explaining – as done at the press conference cited by lawyer Centonze, that no mafia threat had been received from his historic right hand man his first executive. Answering the questions, however, Berlusconi would have had the obligation to tell the truth. And above all he would have risked having to submit himself also to other questions: on the public prosecution bench there were already some pages of questions that the pgs Fici and Sergio Barbiera had prepared in case the witness had accepted to answer.

Dell'Utri transmission belt between B and the Mafia – The deposition of Berlusconi, in short, could have been useful to Dell'Utri, which in these days is ending to serve his sentence to seven years in prison for external competition to Cosa Nostra: now that he has regained his freedom he would like to keep it. The former senator, in fact, is 78 years old: if he condemns her for the Negotiation should it become definitive it would risk ending its life to the House arrest. For this reason the lawyer Centonze he had decided to cite Berlusconi, the head of a government which is indicated in the grounds of the first instance sentence as "victim”Of the threat stragista of Cosa Nostra. Of this, Dell’Utri is accused: of having done “drive belt”Of the intimidation of mafia bosses from Palermo to Palazzo Chigi. Only that Berlusconi, an injured part of his historic right-hand man, is not it was never heard in the classroom during the negotiation process, nor in the investigation phase. A circumstance that according to lawyer Centonze was "remedied" as Berlusconi's examination was "a logical consequence of the qualification of offended person attributed to the same in the contested judgment as the final recipient of the pressure or pressure attempts of Cosa Nostra ".

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