A court in Reggio
Calabria on Wednesday upheld a ruling that charges of mafia
association against former cabinet minister Claudio Scajola
cannot be included as an aggravating factor with another charges
he faces for allegedly helping a convicted criminal flee the
country.
However, Italy's Anti-Mafia Directorate can appeal that
ruling to the nation's highest appeal body, the Cassation Court.
Scajola, a former government interior and industry
minister, had no comment when he arrived in court Wednesday
morning, accompanied by his lawyer Giorgio Perroni, to face the
charges.
Perroni said that under the conditions of Scajola's house
arrest, he is not permitted to speak with the media.
Prosecutors have argued that Scajola and other defendants
in the case allegedly helped with the escape from Italy of
Amedeo Matacena, a former MP for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's
Forza Italia (FI) party who had been convicted of Mafia links.
Matacena is still at large in Dubai, having fled Italy to
avoid serving his sentence imposed for working with the mafia,
particularly the powerful 'Ndrangheta mob.
Also facing charges of assisting Matacena is his secretary
Maria Grazia Fiordalisi.
His wife Chiara Rizzo and assistant Martino Politi face
similar charges and are also believed to have tried to conceal
Matacena's assets to prevent them from being seized.
Matacena announced in June that he would return to Italy
from Dubai to serve his time in order to give his children
"their mother back", but so far has not come back.
Scajola has had other encounters with the judicial
authorities.
In January a judge acquitted him and his co-defendant,
businessman Diego Anemone, on charges related to a shady
real-estate deal involving an expensive home with a view on
Rome's iconic Colosseum that led to his resignation as industry
minister in Berlusoni's third government in 2010.
The judge cleared Scajola, saying his assertion that
Anemone had paid for most of the flat for him without his
knowledge was credible.
Prosecutors, who had demanded Scajola be given a three-year
prison term, are appealing against the acquittal.
Scajola was also forced to resign as interior minister from
a previous Berlusconi government in July 2002 after sparking
controversy by making derogatory remarks about slain Labor
Ministry aide Marco Biagi.
Biagi was gunned down the previous March by the Red
Brigades after being denied a police escort by Scajola.
In off-the-cuff remarks, Scajola said Biagi had been a
"pain in the a**" and that had Biagi been given an escort "three
people would have been killed instead of one".
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