The General Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Appeal of Rome has appealed to the Supreme Court against the acquittal sentence issued on 8 May, which had acquitted six defendants accused of attempted extortion in the "Irriducibili" case relating to the takeover of Lazio. The appeal is based on the fact that the first instance sentence, issued in 2015, had sentenced some defendants to up to four years and two months, including the former leader of the Irriducibili, Fabrizio Piscitelli, who passed away in 2019.
According to the accusation, between 2005 and 2006 the president Claudio Lotito was threatened to sell approximately 30% of his company shares to a Hungarian pharmaceutical group. The Court of Appeal, however, acquitted the defendants on the grounds "because the fact does not exist", stating that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of the threats. The Prosecutor's Office claims that the motivation is "apparent and incongruous", and that the judges did not delve into the role of the individual defendants nor the value of the evidence collected, including the statements of Lotito and his wife Cristina Mezzaroma on the alleged intimidation.
The intimidations, thus reconstructed, would have included threatening letters and acts of vandalism, such as dumping manure in front of the president's offices. Last March, Lotito told the parliamentary anti-mafia commission that he had to "go around armed" to protect himself, citing the use of two guns. The proceeding also involved Giorgio Chinaglia, indicated as an intermediary of a foreign group interested in purchasing the company; the charge against him was dropped after his death in 2012.
The appeal, presented by the General Prosecutor's Office, therefore requests the annulment of the acquittal sentence and the continuation of the proceedings in the Supreme Court. If the Court of Cassation accepts the appeal, the six defendants could be put on trial again, with the possibility of convictions. The final decision will be made in the near future, while Lazio continues to carefully monitor the evolution of the case, which has already attracted the attention of the media and judicial authorities.