“The armchair is more of a burden than an honor” –

A day full of news regarding the case of the president of Liguria Giovanni Toti, who has been under house arrest since May 7 for an investigation by the Genoa prosecutor’s office in which he is accused of corruption. Today the content of the letter that the governor sent to his lawyer Stefano Savi was released: “It is clear that for me the office of president is more of a burden than an honor. Perhaps it would have been easier, right from the start, to slam the door, with indignation, at the mere suspicion raised regarding my actions”. And once more: “In my life I have changed many times, I am not personally afraid of giving up a role to which I am also attached, for the results that I claim to which I have dedicated every single minute of the last nine years, sacrificing loved ones and friends. The human account is balanced, the gratification for what the Ligurian voters have allowed me to do, from Ponte San Giorgio onwards, is enormous”.

Then a passage on the regional presidency: “It is not a personal asset. It is a collective heritage. Of those who voted for her, of those who supported her, of those who spent themselves for a political adventure. I hoped, and I still hope, that justice and politics can respect their roles and their prerogatives”. As mentioned, however, the news is not limited to the letter sent by Toti to his lawyer Stefano Savi. Because the Superior Council of the Judiciary has turned its spotlight on the Ligurian investigation. In detail, the lay councilors Claudia Eccher (Lega) and Isabella Bertolini (FdI) have presented a request for disciplinary proceedings once morest the magistrates of the Review Court who confirmed the precautionary measure of house arrest. The document states: «On 11 July 2024, the Review Court confirmed the house arrest of the President of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti, with a new order that includes inappropriate references to ethics, natural law and which, with ironic tones, borders on mockery of the suspect, in particular of the provision in which it is claimed that the same “would intend to have investigators explain what is lawful and what is not”.

But it doesn’t end there, since Eccher and Bertolini have requested “the opening of a case in the fourth commission in order to evaluate elements that affect the evaluation of the professionalism of the magistrates who make up the panel”. Finally, Toti’s request, forwarded to the Genoese judges, to be able to meet the leader of the League Matteo Salvini. Who will travel to Genoa on July 15th. In all likelihood, the magistrates’ decision will come following that date, but given the precedent – Toti has already met his most loyal followers in the past despite the house arrest he is serving in Ameglia – he can be very hopeful.