Bari, the waste of the Covid hospital: Lerario defends himself by attacking and cites 24 witnesses

The procedures used during the Covid period were in line with the practices in use at that time. The former head of the Apulian Civil Protection, Mario Lerario, this time goes on the attack and in the trial on the emergency contracts (starting from the hospital in Fiera del Levante, whose cost has risen from 8 to over 30 million) calls 24 people to the witness stand, starting with the heads of the structure that managed the pandemic: the former national emergency commissioner, Domenico Arcuri, and the former head of the Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli.

The first hearing of the trial (in which Lerario and six other people are charged with various counts of corruption, embezzlement, forgery and disturbances) opened with a postponement due to the abstention of the president of the panel, Anna Perrelli, who as investigating judge examined (and partially rejected) the requests for precautionary measures presented by the prosecutor Roberto Rossi. It will start again on July 1, again before the First Section but before a different panel, for the admission of evidence.

The prosecution believes that the contract for the hospital was rigged to allow Cobar of Altamura to win (without the beneficiary's knowledge), by adjusting the scores so that it would prevail over the only other competitor. Lerario...