After the investigations and interrogations after the closure of the investigation on Sardara's "forbidden" lunch against six suspects , the Cagliari Public Prosecutor's Office made five requests for indictment and a proposal to dismiss the accusations against Antonio Casula , former regional commander of the Forestry Corps.

The requests to the investigating judge

Five of them will have to appear before the judge for the preliminary hearings at the end of the investigation into the banquet at the Nuove Terme di Sardara, which was interrupted on 7 April last year by the Finance Office for violation of the anti-assembly rules provided for the orange zone which in those days were been imposed on the island for the Covid emergency. A lunch attended by about forty directors general of the Region, heads of health companies and instrumental bodies, politicians and administrators , all then fined for non-compliance with the prescriptions. The prosecutor Giangiacomo Pilia - who coordinated the investigations of the Finance - asked for the setting of the preliminary hearing contesting the embezzlement for the use of the military vehicle to Colonel Marco Granari, commander of the 151 / o regiment of the Sassari Brigade, to his deputy Mario Piras, lieutenant colonel, and to the Commander's secretary, corporal major Davide Concas. All three are also charged with some forgeries for trying to justify the trip to Sardara for reasons of service , as well as military offenses. The indictment was requested with the hypothesis of aiding and abetting also for the mayor of Mandas, Umberto Oppus, and for the manager of the spa complex, Giovanni Corona: during the interrogations following the opening of the file, they allegedly issued false statements to the investigators and the version to be provided to the magistrate was agreed with the three soldiers under investigation.

Archiving requested

But the prosecutor also asked the investigating judge to dismiss the accusation of omission of official acts hypothesized to the former number one of the Foresters, Antonio Casula . He was in trouble because, as a public official, according to a first hypothesis of investigation he would not have intervened to enforce the anti-Covid rules, despite the specific competences that concerned the controls during the pandemic. Once the investigation was closed, the manager - defended by the lawyer Anna Maria Busia - was questioned again and presented documents and numerous briefs. "We are satisfied with the request of the public prosecutor", confirms the lawyer, "we have tried to explain during this investigation every aspect of the story, the role and responsibilities of my client". While waiting for the Gip to be pronounced, Casula also breathes a sigh of relief . «I express great satisfaction with the request for filing», admits the former number one of the Foresters, «comes after more than a year of summary and media trials also by those who, due to the institutional roles covered, should have used more prudence. I have always had full confidence in the judiciary and I was convinced of my correct institutional behavior as Commander of the Forestry Corps. I express gratitude to my lawyer ».

Already archived

In recent months, the prosecutor had already dropped the hypothesis of embezzlement for having gone to the spa with the service car formulated to the general manager of Forestas, Giuliano Patteri, and the former manager of the university hospital, Giorgio Sorrentino. Both, following the investigations, have shown that they have gone to Sardara convinced that they have been summoned because of their office. Following the "forbidden" lunch, there was an earthquake in the Region and in various public bodies, with resignations and revocation of positions.

Francesco Pinna

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