“No quibbles, but issues of substance, that’s why acquittal was the only way” – Corriere.it

Lawyer Federico Cecconi, as defender of Silvio Berlusconi you were the protagonist of the Ruby ter trial. Investigation started in 2014 and six years of trial. A marathon?

“Yes. The number of defendants, the president’s health problems, which then improved, and the pandemic made it necessary to postpone hearings.
You are the winner of the trial with the exception on the invalidity of the testimonies filed even in January 2019.

«I start by saying that I find some journalistic summaries inappropriate
according to which the trial was won on a technicality.
In the vocabulary of the Italian language, quibble is an “argument or subtle reasoning supported in bad faith to alter the truth”. None of this. We made an exception early in the trial which the court held in reserve. Not out of forgetfulness, but because he wanted to decide after hearing all the witnesses from the prosecutor’s office. Only then did he uphold my objection on a matter of enormous importance and legal civility”.
A matter of form, some say.

«No, essentially. While the Ruby 1 and Ruby 2 trials were taking place, an investigation was underway (the buying and selling of houses for some girls, ed.) which involved some subjects who should have been heard in the two trials for corruption.
The Ruby ter Tribunal said those people should be investigated by the prosecution,
but this did not happen despite the fact that there was a flow of items between the various offices. These subjects, if they had been informed beforehand, could also have made use of the right not to respond in the trials”.
It is the third acquittal after those in the satellite trials of Rome and Siena.

«In which this exception was not made and the acquittal took place all the same because we demonstrated that the donations did not have opaque profiles. It seems to me that in these hours there are those who are anticipating badly and with unreasonable interpretations the reasons for the Ruby ter sentence which will inevitably provide more points and arguments for the acquittal”.
The prosecutor said that investigating Berlusconi had been a duty.

«It was technically after the judges of the Ruby 1 and 2 trials had sent the documents to the prosecution to investigate the position of witnesses. I don’t criticize anyone, but we have always believed that already in the light of the investigations and the elements provided by the defense, the only possible solution was acquittal”.
The fact remains that Berlusconi has been paying money to a number of people for years.

“Everything was done in good faith believing that some of her guests were victims of a media pillory that damaged them on a personal and professional level”.
When you heard Berlusconi’s acquittal, what did it feel like?

“I was happy, of course. I felt the pleasure of having contributed, through an acquittal, to making a person more serene that I have had the good fortune to be able to appreciate over time”.