I've got a review of the Bari game coming up probably tomorrow morning, but I thought this was well written and worth a read. In the meantime, some have read that former Juventus director Antonio Giraudo has been sentenced to prison. First, as the Amanda Knox trial shows, the Italian justice system is pretty messed up. Knowing the Italian appeals process, just like Berlusconi, there is no doubt in my mind Giraudo won't spend any real time in prison. Full explanation after the jump from the great Giuseppe Solinas-
Antonio Giraudo was sentenced to three years in prison today on the grounds of Association with Intent to Defraud. In a way, this is what he asked for since he has been extremely lazy these last four years. While Moggi has spent every waking day defending himself, Giraudo took the accusations all too lightly and today paid for it. I doubt that he will now knowing that it will cost him three years of his life. Odds are he will appeal the verdict but at this point I have to ask what the point is.
The sentence itself (“Association with Intent to Defraud”) is largely unconstitutional in that it requires no proof (how could one prove ill will?). It emerged decades ago as a tactic to group undesirables (Communists, Organized Criminals, etc.) when all else failed. Today it was used as a means of achieving a desired sentence without the burden of proving a single illegal act.
Someone now is going to have to be very creative in explaining how fraud could not be committed or even attempted (according to the sporting tribunal), yet the intention of it still be a punishable offence. Is it illogical to assume that if an association with fraudulent intentions existed that it would at least have attempted it once at some point? Is it logical to assume that someone’s mere desire to commit an act be damaging in legal terms?
How it is possible that the “Association” does not legally exist according to the most recent Civil Court (GEA trial) yet people still investigated and condemned for being members of it is a mystery. How is it possible that the only case capable of reopening the “Association’s” existence (Moggi’s trial) is yet to conclude (which brings forth more and more evidence daily to refute the accusation) and still have people sentenced for its membership.
It is extremely important to note that today Giraudo was sentenced not for wrongdoing of any sort but for being a member of an undesirable “Association” that does not legally exist according to the judges that preside over Italy. How could someone be a member of something that the courts themselves determined never existed?
Today more than ever as an Italian citizen I am grateful that I live in Canada where a citizen’s right to a fair trial is still respected.