Nordio says 'perplexed' about timing of Toti arrest

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said
Tuesday he was "perplexed" about the timing of the house arrest
of Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti in a graft probe noting that
the probe had started three years ago.

   
"I don't know the facts and as a defendants' rights advocate I
always think of the presumption of innocence, But I seem to have
understood that it is a case of facts that date back several
years and that the probe was not born today but some time ago,"
he said.

   
"I spent 40 years as a prosecutor and I rarely asked for
detentive measures after years of investigations.

   
"My perplexity is never on the moment that the precautionary
measure is triggered via a vis the imminence of elections, but
it is if I have technical perplexity regarding a measure with
respect to the time in which the crime was committed and the
investigation began".

   
Some have suggested 'clockwork justice' aimed at hitting Toti in
the run-up to the European elections, a suggestion Nordio
rejected.

   

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