The Sixth Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation, following the hearing yesterday 26 May, annulled the order of the Court of Freedom of Palermo against Ferdinando Aiello, for the only crime of trafficking in illicit influence that the Palermo Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of in the ongoing trial before the GUP.
The Palermo Review, following the appeal of the Public Prosecutor, had deemed the existence of circumstantial gravity against Ferdinando Aiello for the crime of illicit trafficking of influence (excluding facts of corruption and disturbance of freedom of auctions), with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Cassation, therefore, the order of the GIP of Palermo which, for Aiello’s position, had rejected the Prosecutor’s request due to total lack of circumstantial gravity, revives.
The defense, led by the lawyer Vincenzo Belvedere of the Cosenza Bar, contested and documented the lack of elements characterizing the crime of trafficking in illicit influence, given that the activity of Ferdinando Aiello and his contacts with the DG of the ASP of Syracuse did not concern the “auxiliary tender”, the subject of the investigation, but a lawful and legitimate interlocution regarding the presentation of a PPP, in his capacity as consultant of “Steritalia SpA”. For this reason, the annulment does not concern procedural defects nor the lack of precautionary needs, but rather the substantial and relevant aspect of the absence of circumstantial gravity.