An Italian court sentenced on Tuesday two Milan prosecutors to eight months in prison for failing to file documents that would have supported energy group Eni’s position in an international corruption case.
Eni, Shell, and all the defendants were nevertheless acquitted by a court in Milan in March 2021 in what came to be known as the industry’s biggest corruption case, which revolved around the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield a decade ago.
Judges in a court in the northern city of Brescia ruled that Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro had a legal obligation to file documents that could have helped the defence team in that trial.
Massimo Dinoia, the two prosecutors’ lawyer, said that his clients planned to appeal against the verdict once the detailed reasons were filed by the court within 45 days. They can carry on working while the appeals process is under way.
“This is a dangerous precedent because it calls into question a fundamental principle, which is that of autonomy in the procedural choices of a public prosecutor,” he said.
The ruling, if upheld, will also mean that the two prosecutors, along with the government, will have to compensate in a separate civil proceeding one of the defendants acquitted in the Eni trial, who had joined this case as an offended party.
The Milan court that acquitted all the defendants in the Eni and Shell trial criticised the way the prosecutors had carried out their work, saying they had failed to file among the trial documents a video shot by a former Eni external lawyer, which they said was relevant to the case.
The Brescia court issued the eight-month sentence that had been requested by prosecutors who said De Pasquale and Spadaro had hidden elements in favour of the defendants in the Eni-Shell trial, infringing their rights.
Their lawyer had asked the court for a full acquittal, arguing there was no rule that immediately and directly required prosecutors to file documents in a trial.
The Brescia court has jurisdiction over judges and prosecutors in the nearby city of Milan.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
