Former Prime Minister and leader of Italia Viva Matteo Renzi has been acquitted by the preliminary investigations judge of Florence Sara Farini for the investigation on Open foundation, created to support the political initiatives of the leader of Iv when he was secretary of the PD. Together with him, the former ministers were also acquitted Maria Elena Boschi and Luca Lotti, the businessman Marco Carrai and the lawyer Alberto Bianchi and the other 6 defendants. The Gup decreed the "no place to proceed”, judging the accusations of the prosecution regarding the management of the Open Foundation to be inconsistent.
Renzi: “Today many should apologize”
“I am almost fifty. I've lived the last five as a 'plague victim' for the incredible Open investigation. An absolute scandal for all those who had read the documents, but despite this I was politically massacred by many, starting with Fratelli d'Italia and the Cinque Stelle. After years of suffering today comes the news: acquitted. I am acquitted, all my friends are acquitted, both political like Maria Elena and Luca and professionals like Marco, Riccardo, Alberto and all the others. Today many people should apologize, Meloni and Travaglio first and foremost. They won't do it. Peace", comments the leader of Iv Matteo Renzi on X.
“The nightmare ends. After years of silent suffering, today the Open page closes: I have been acquitted", wrote the Italia Viva MP in a post on Facebook Mary Helen Woods. “As a lawyer,” she explains, “I knew the absurdity of the accusations. As a member of parliament, I was certain of the correctness of our actions. But as a woman, I have suffered a lot, almost always in silence. I thank Giulio for having embraced me and understood me. I thank my parents and my brothers, the whole family, for having helped and supported me, starting with my father who had to suffer even worse but equally unfair treatment. I thank my lawyers, Nanni and Pellegrini and especially Paola Severino, colleague, friend and beacon. I embrace Matteo, Luca and all my friends and colleagues. And I give everyone an appointment at the next Leopolda, in October 2025.” “Let's not stop fighting for a more just country. And one with more guarantees,” concludes Boschi.
The story
Renzi, Boschi and Carrai were accused of only crime of illicit party financing. Among the other hypotheses of crime contested by the prosecution under various titles are also influence peddling, corruption, self-laundering and issuing invoices for non-existent transactions.
According to the prosecution, Open – whose president was Bianchi and whose board of directors included Boschi, Lotti and Carrai – would have acted as a party branch, and in particular of the current of the Democratic Party linked to Matteo Renzi. Approximately 3,5 million euros is the money that, according to the prosecution, would have arrived in the coffers of the institution from 2014 to 2018 in violation of the rules on party financing. Accusations contested by Renzi who has engaged in a battle also with complaints against the prosecutors of the investigation.
The preliminary hearing opened on April 3, 2022 and lasted for over two years, with an appeal to the Constitutional Court on the conflict of powers. In the courtroom today, "having read and applied Articles 424 and 425, third paragraph 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure", the judge declared "the dismissal of the case against the defendants since the evidence acquired does not allow for a reasonable prediction of conviction to be made".
