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2 Italian prosecutors founded guilty for hiding files in Eni-Shell Nigeria trial

An Italian court sentenced on Tuesday 2 Milan district attorneys to 8 months in jail for failing to file documents that would have supported energy group Eni's position in a worldwide corruption case.

Eni, Shell, and all the defendants were nonetheless acquitted by a court in Milan in March 2021 in what became referred to as the market's most significant corruption case, which focused on the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield a years earlier.

Judges in a court in the northern city of Brescia ruled that Milan district attorneys Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro had a. legal commitment to submit documents that could have assisted the. defence group because trial.

Massimo Dinoia, the 2 prosecutors' legal representative, said that his. clients prepared to appeal against the decision when the detailed. reasons were submitted by the court within 45 days. They can carry. on working while the appeals procedure is under way.

This is a dangerous precedent since it calls into. concern an essential concept, which is that of autonomy in. the procedural options of a public prosecutor, he said.

The ruling, if maintained, will also imply that the 2. prosecutors, along with the government, will need to compensate. in a different civil proceeding one of the defendants acquitted. in the Eni trial, who had actually joined this case as an offended party.

The Milan court that acquitted all the offenders in the Eni. and Shell trial criticised the method the district attorneys had carried. out their work, saying they had actually stopped working to submit among the trial. documents a video shot by a previous Eni external attorney, which. they said pertained to the case.

The Brescia court released the eight-month sentence that had. been asked for by prosecutors who stated De Pasquale and Spadaro. had concealed aspects in favour of the defendants in the Eni-Shell. trial, infringing their rights.

Their lawyer had actually asked the court for a complete acquittal,. arguing there was no guideline that instantly and straight needed. district attorneys to submit documents in a trial.

The Brescia court has jurisdiction over judges and. prosecutors in the neighboring city of Milan.

(source: Reuters)