Italy court summons Scaroni as witness in Saipem-Sonatrach case

A court in Milan summoned Eni’s former excuctive director Paolo Scaroni as a witness in the Saipem-Sonatrach case or the so-called 200 million euros bribe, Echorouk has learnt.

The court rejected a request made by Farid Bedjaoui’s defence lawyers to reconsider its accusations. Lawyers said translation from French into Italian was not correct. Six main suspects did not attend the trial.

Attorney General submitted an official request to the court to call in Scaroni, saying he was supposed to be a suspect because he knows the case details. A call from Scaroni showed that Algerian officials received a bribe from Saipem.

According to the same sources, Scaroni’s presence will be a turning point in the case. The Italian penal code stipulates that witnesses must say all the truth or they would be punished for hiding information. Scaroni’s enenmies accused him of being aware of all the details about events and deals.

Attorney General also asked for bringing Eni and Saipem’s current executive directors as witnesses.

The trial lasted for two hours and a half while six suspects were absent. A fourth session is due to be held on April 4th as Scaroni would appear in court as a witness for the first time.