Former Mayor of Avellino Gianluca Festa Faces Court

He arrived at Piazza De Marsico, where the Avellino court is located, just before 2:30 PM, the time set by judge Giulio Argenio for the preliminary hearing, and he left nearly four hours later to return to house arrest. The former mayor of Avellino, Gianluca Festa, rejected all the charges against him, which include alleged illicit contracts and sponsorships, as well as obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and disclosure of confidential information related to two competitions announced by the municipality of Avellino. Festa answered all the questions from the investigating judge with 'determination and precision,' emphasizes his lawyer Luigi Petrillo, providing explanations for all the facts he is accused of. The defense attorney will evaluate in the coming days the possible appeal to the Review Court to request the annulment of the precautionary measure taken on April 18th last year and signed by the same magistrate who interrogated him. 'Out of respect for the judiciary, I do not intend to talk about the interrogation given and I have no intention of revealing its content. I can only say that the former mayor answered all the questions: we are certain that today an important contribution has been made to the case and we hope that this legal matter can be resolved as quickly as possible. We hope that the former mayor can emerge with his dignity restored. Festa has been and is particularly combative, but extremely serene.'