“I am innocent and I hope that the judges are innocent too,” said the 47-year-old leader of the Italia Viva small party on the party’s Leopolda radio station on Thursday.
The preliminary hearing, in which it is determined whether there will be a trial, was scheduled by the court in Florence for April 4th. Prosecutors previously requested charges against Renzi, some of his close associates and entrepreneurs. According to media reports, the allegations range from corruption and money laundering to the settlement of non-existent transactions.
The focus is on the Fondazione Open. The foundation was established in 2012. She supported Renzi’s political initiatives during his time as mayor of the Tuscan city of Florence, head of government and party leader of the Partito Democratico (PD), from which he resigned in 2019. The organization of the annual Leopolda political conference, which Renzi initiated, ran through Open. The foundation was active until April 2018.
The Open case began back in 2019. According to media reports, investigators searched the documents of important donors back in November. According to the prosecutor’s office, Open functioned as a de facto movement of the “Renzians” in the PD and Renzi is said to have directed it. This is how an independent financing channel should have been created.
In response, Renzi formally reported three investigating prosecutors on Wednesday. The member of the Senate – the smaller chamber of Parliament – invoked three norms, including a constitutional statute that the correspondence of a member of parliament cannot be confiscated.