A preliminary hearing judge
Thursday accepted a plea-bargain deal from the legal team
representing former Veneto governor Giancarlo Galan for his
alleged role in corruption linked to the MOSE flood-protection
system.
The deal sees Galan sentenced to 34 months imprisonment and
a fine of 2.6 million euros.
However, Galan's lawyers say they are considering an appeal
to Italy's highest court in an effort to have charges against
him abolished because they said he is not guilty.
First, they want to "carefully read the judge's comments,"
said Niccolo Ghedini and Antonio Franchini, lawyers for Galan
who has been under house arrest.
"We are not satisfied," the lawyers said.
"We are convinced of the innocence of our client, but this
(settlement) choice was made for reasons of health on the one
hand and family on the other," they said.
Prosecutor Carlo Nordio said that he and investigators in
the MOSE affair were satisfied with the deal.
Galan, a center-right Forza Italia (FI) MP and former
two-time Berlusconi government minister, was arrested in July on
suspicion of corruption in the multi-billion-euro MOSE
flood-prevention system in Venice.
Ghedini said the issue of whether Galan must forfeit his
parliamentary seat will not be decided until any appeals have
been completed.
A House committee has been preparing for a review of the
immunity protecting Galan, gathering more than 160,000 pages of
documents.
Some 35 people were initially under investigation for
allegedly funneling 25 million euros in taxpayer money to
political campaigns and away from MOSE, a system of retractable
dikes set to be operable in 2016 after decades of delays.
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