Milan's urban planning, former magistrate Guido Salvini: "Why was everyone released from prison? No surprise."

"The outcome of the recent appeals to the Review Board regarding the investigation into Milan's urban planning doesn't surprise me at all," says Guido Salvini, a former magistrate who spent years working for the investigating judge's office at the Milan Tribunal. Salvini, in the past, in addition to reopening the investigation into the Piazza Fontana massacre, has also been responsible for important proceedings involving left-wing (Br, Prima Linea, Autonomia Operaia) and right-wing (Nar) terrorism.

Dr. Guido Salvini, how do you explain the Court of Appeal's decision to overturn all the arrests requested and obtained by the Prosecutor's Office? From the very beginning, it was quite evident, and it was the first comment from almost all legal professionals in the Milanese Courthouse, that in an investigation that had been under the attention of the mass media for weeks, it was very difficult to raise insurmountable precautionary requirements, such as, for example, the repetition of the alleged crimes.

The individuals directly involved, moreover, having learned that they were under investigation, immediately resigned from their respective positions… Exactly. If only restrictive measures had been requested, such as suspension from public office or profession and thus a ban on contracting with the public administration—not coincidentally, precisely the type of limited and essentially administrative measures for which, even before the Nordio reform, a preliminary hearing was required—this short circuit would not have occurred. A short circuit that, in any case, has not benefited those addressing the serious issue of Milan's construction policy.

The reform of crimes against the public administration, starting with the abolition of abuse of office , has had the effect of worsening the positions of those under investigation. It's essential to reflect on the paradoxical effect of recent changes to public administration crimes. Once abuse of office was eliminated, for a variety of reasons unforeseen by politicians, potential conflicts of interest were shifted from public prosecutors to higher levels, becoming the most serious corruption offense.

What problems arise now? Transforming conduct from failure to report a conflict of interest into corruption is neither simple nor automatic, and the preliminary outcome of this first phase of the investigation seems to confirm this. Those who, during discussions in the Justice Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, emphasized the need not to entirely eliminate the crime of abuse of office under Article 323 of the Criminal Code, but rather to narrow and redefine it to prevent its abuse, while retaining, if proven, certain typical and limited situations of conflict of interest, were probably right.

Regardless of these procedural issues, the investigation into Milan's urban planning once again focuses on the issue of media prosecution. A long-standing issue that appears unsolvable. Certainly. Despite repeated efforts to contain media scrutiny, some people have learned from the press that they're under investigation before they can even provide their version of events and defend themselves.

The newspapers had access to documents that were – theoretically – covered by secrecy. Yes. Especially the usual major newspapers that have privileged relationships with investigators. "Thanks" to them, we've all been able to read decontextualized chat snippets that mean nothing concrete. They're generally typical jokes of this contemporary mode of communication.

But they have produced devastating effects. Obviously. Proposing them to readers with your own personal and even suggestive interpretation, without the relevant documents, is knowingly misinforming them. I can't say anything new.

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Paul Comi