Vote trading in Scafati, six key witnesses against Aliberti & C.

Scafati. The trial of the family and political elite that governed the city of Scafati for eight years, doing business with organized crime figures to gain votes and power in exchange. The preliminary hearing began this morning against former mayor Angelo Pasqualino Aliberti, now under house arrest, and 14 other defendants. The extraordinary commission established in the municipality, dissolved due to mafia infiltration, has filed a civil suit against the former politicians on behalf of the Municipality of Scafati. Also filing a civil suit in the trial are entrepreneurs Aniello and Fabio Longobardi, victims of extortion (represented by the lawyer Giovanni Annunziata), and journalist Valeria Cozzolino (represented by the lawyer Daniele Rossetti), the recipient of threats allegedly directed by former mayor Angelo Pasqualino Aliberti, carried out by her brother Nello Maurizio and Gennaro Ridosso, in the run-up to the 2013 municipal elections.
The trial began before Preliminary Hearings Judge Emiliana Ascoli against the defendants charged with various counts of vote-buying, extortion, threats, domestic violence, and abuse of office aggravated by mafia methods.
This trial will assess the responsibilities of politicians and Camorristi, stemming from the investigation by the Salerno DIA (Anti-Mafia Investigation Department) division, known as Sarastra, which led to the dissolution of the city council for organized crime infiltration of the municipal institutions. The defendants before preliminary hearing judge Emiliana Ascoli include former mayor Aliberti, arrested for vote-buying, his brother Nello Maurizio, his wife, Forza Italia regional councilor Monica Paolino, former councilor Roberto Barchiesi, former staffer Giovanni Cozzolino, Ciro Petrucci, former vice president of ACSE (the in-house company of the Municipality of Scafati), Gennaro Ridosso, believed, along with Alfonso Loreto—now a repentant—to be the leaders of the dominant clan in Scafati, and brothers Andrea and Luigi Ridosso. The same trial also includes the case concerning subsidies for funeral homes, L'Eternità and Cesarano, for which the following are on trial: Giacomo Cacchione, director of the Municipality's economic department; engineer Nicola Fienga; Giuseppina Ametrano, legal representative of L'Eternità; and Alfonso and Catello Cesarano, directors of the Cesarano Nicola Funeral Home at the time of the events.
This morning, in the bunker courtroom of Fuorni prison, in the presence of the defendants—with only the informer Alfonso Loreto absent—DDA prosecutor Vincenzo Montemurro requested the indictment of all defendants and requested a preliminary hearing for six key witnesses in the trial who are expected to be heard during this preliminary phase. Diego Chirico (former councilor), Pasquale Coppola (former president of the city council), Filippo Sansone (former CEO of Copmes), entrepreneurs Fabio and Aniello Longobardi, and journalist Valeria Cozzolino are expected—according to the prosecutor's office—to crystallize their accusations during the preliminary phase. The preliminary hearing judge will rule on the request during the next hearing scheduled for April 26.
Aliberti's defense, represented by attorneys Silverio Sica and Agostino De Caro, has requested that all other prosecution witnesses, including collaborators of justice, be heard at this preliminary stage. They have raised several preliminary objections, including the nullity of the precautionary orders against Aliberti due to the failure to submit certain evidence in favor of the defense, such as the wiretap between brothers Andrea and Luigi Ridosso, intercepted in the aftermath of the 2013 municipal elections, and the interrogation conducted by Luigi Ridosso. Furthermore, the defense has requested that all investigative documents after March 2016 be declared inadmissible due to the lack of extensions to the preliminary investigation. The preliminary hearing judge has reserved his decision on all objections. Furthermore, at least two requests for alternative procedures are emerging in the trial: one for the repentant Alfonso Loreto, already formalized by his defense attorney, Luigi Ferrone, and one for Luigi Ridosso, defended by the lawyer Michele Sarno, for which no official confirmation has yet been made.
The most serious charge facing the defendants is that of mafia-related political vote-trading: a criminal pact between the Aliberti brothers and Monica Paolino, with members of the Loreto-Ridosso clan, aimed at gaining votes in the 2013 local elections and the 2015 regional elections. Trusted men were placed in key positions in the municipal administration to allow the clan to benefit from contracts. Roberto Barchiesi, uncle of the ex-wife of Alfonso Loreto, a city councilor elected on the "Grande Scafati" list, supported by the Rifosso-Loretos, and Ciro Petrucci, a close friend of Luigi Ridosso Jr., vice president of ACSE, are alleged to have monitored the financial interests intended for the clan's members during Angelo Pasqualino Aliberti's tenure as mayor.
The trial that began this morning is the first to emerge from the 'Sarastra' investigation into the Aliberti family's political and family system and their alleged ties to organized crime.

 Rosaria Federico

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