A provision introduced by the center-right government allows the former mayor of Bibbiano, Andrea Carletti, a member of the Democratic Party, to be acquitted from the trial, even before the end of the debate.

In 2019, Carletti was arrested, placed under house arrest, and unwittingly became one of the symbolic figures of the "Angels and Demons" investigation that put an alleged business on the foster care of minors under the age of 18 under the guise of a criminal organization and shook up the electoral campaign for the last regional elections in Emilia-Romagna , with political leaders who took turns holding rallies in the small town in the lower Reggio Emilia area and wearing themed T-shirts in parliament.

In the meantime, Carletti has long been freed, some charges have been dropped and now the fact he was accused of is no longer considered a crime by law: he was in fact accused of abuse of office, the crime repealed in the summer by the Nordio Bill. In the last hearing, the Reggio Emilia court had rejected the request of the Prosecutor's Office to raise a question of constitutional legitimacy on the matter, on the repeal of the crime.

And so in the morning, the panel of judges decided to pronounce a sentence of acquittal for him and seven others for the part on abuse of office. In addition to Carletti, the former president of the Unione Val d'Enza Paolo Colli and the defendant Cinzia Prudente also definitively leave the case. In total, 17 people had been sent for trial. Claudio Foti, a psychotherapist for the non-profit organization Hansel and Gretel, who was also arrested at the time, chose the abbreviated trial and was acquitted on appeal, with a sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Carletti has never been accused of crimes involving minors, but of having given political cover to the alleged crimes. "For the former mayor, this is undoubtedly the end of a nightmare. He faced this trial ordeal that lasted more than five years, always remaining firm and consistent with his principles and with his role as mayor, now abandoned after having completed his second term, forcefully rejecting every unjust accusation", commented his defenders, Professor Vittorio Manes and lawyer Giovanni Tarquini.

"We have accompanied him - they say - since the terrible phase of application of the precautionary measures, convincingly supporting his reasons in every venue and gradually dismantling the serious charges, originally four, that concerned him. This long trial has finally seen its epilogue today thanks to the great demonstration of autonomy and competence of the Court of Reggio Emilia which must be given credit for having acted in full compliance with the laws and the rights of all parties in the trial".

After the exit with the acquittals first of Foti and now of Carletti, the trial called "Bibbiano" has lost two key figures especially for the symbolic aspect. In reality there are dozens of charges that are being examined in the courtroom of the collegiate tribunal, with a long and complex debate and hundreds of witnesses called to testify to tell what was happening in Val d'Enza, on which the final word has not yet been put completely from a judicial point of view.

(Online Union)

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