The sentence of the Expo trial has arrived. The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, as former managing director of Expo, was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment by the judges of the tenth criminal section presided over by Paolo Guidi. The sentence was converted into a fine of 45 euros. Sala was accused of false material and ideological for the alleged backdating of two minutes with which, in May 2012, two members of the tender commission were replaced for the award of the maxi contract for the service plate of the 2015 Universal Exposition .
The appeal of Sala's defense against the conviction has already been announced. It should be emphasized that the indictment will be statute-barred next autumn.
On the other hand, the other three defendants were acquitted: Antonio Rognoni, former general manager of Infrastrutture Lombarde accused of bid rigging on the tender; Angelo Paris, former manager of Expo and president of the awarding commission accused of attempted abuse of office, and Piergiorgio Baita, former president of Mantovani, accused of the crime of attempted abuse of office. .
“This sentence will not affect my ability to be mayor of Milan”. This is the first comment by the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. “I assure the Milanese – he added – that I will remain as mayor for the remaining two years of my mandate. I don't feel like looking forward now".
“A sentence of this kind, after seven years, due to a procedural defect, will distance many respectable people from dealing with public affairs.The feelings I have are negative – he explained – here the work was tried and I did a lot of it”.
“I'm not used to celebrating other people's convictions. I want to read the documents. As a Milanese I am proud of how Expo was managed. If there was an error we will verify what kind of error it is, but while on the left they usually celebrate the sentences against tizio and against caio, as a Milanese I don't celebrate if my mayor is convicted”. commented the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini.
