Speaking to Agence France-Presse, his attorney, Laurent Ken, stated that his client would reveal everything that has happened since 2014—or even before that—regarding these contacts. As a result, the authorities have identified suspects who have not yet been charged.
As for Mark Tarabella, who denies having been bribed but is under scrutiny by the authorities, the lawyer stated that «We cannot go into the substance of the case. He will tell the investigators that, not the press. The only thing he wanted to say publicly is about Marie Arena, who is not being prosecuted in connection with the case.».
In an interview with the Belgian newspaper L’Echo, Ken explained that «Mr. Panzeri must speak out and show confidence in the investigators, and the authorities must realize that what he is saying is true. At first glance, the council should reach a decision on this memorandum in about a year.».
As the Italian politician’s lawyers point out, his statements alone are not enough to convict someone and must be corroborated by other evidence from the investigation, and there is no point in him lying.
In his previous closed-door testimony, he appears to have spoken «in a negative light» about Eva Kaili, a fact that likely contributed to last Thursday’s decision to keep her in pretrial detention.The presiding judge was not convinced that the former Vice President of the European Parliament—who maintains her innocence—is not a flight risk or would not tamper with evidence, even if she were released under restrictive conditions. For his part, her defense attorney, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, argued in an interview with ANT1 that his client is not concerned about Panzeri’s testimony, «who wants to save his wife and daughter.».
