Admiral De Giorgi, the Chief of Staff of the Navy, answers

(To Andrea Cucco)
16/04/16

Admiral De Giorgi made spontaneous statements yesterday in front of Potenza prosecutors who are investigating the line called "Trivellopoli".

In the last week a monster hunt has been unleashed on the basis of anonymous letters, telephone boastfulness and conspiracies. Especially in the first days, to present the investigation in progress (which in the text of the articles involved others!), Photos of the admiral and titles such as "investigated the chief of staff of the Navy" were exploited. Nothing inside ...

How not to think then of an "orchestration", of a defamatory campaign (v. article)?

After days of "due" silence, in which few have had the solidarity, personal and / or institutional courage to defend themselves (but among them the president of the council!) the admiral has finally been able to respond to farlocche accusations. Injuries that, unfortunately, in a serious country like Italy immediately turn into final judgments become final. A country attentive to labels and headlines - from newspapers in this case - and very little to content.

Yesterday the head of the Navy met the press immediately after the meeting with the magistrates of Potenza.

We finally discover, through his words, what would be happening ...

(Amm.De Giorgi) I honestly believe the investigation stems from due acts, I see no damage. That which has embittered me, as a man and as an officer, to have immediately - without the possibility of timely contradiction - this wave of mud on a career of 45 years.

This orchestration had already tried to take effect four years ago.

All anonymous letters are always sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office, it is the practice of the Navy and of all the Armed Forces. We send them so that the author of the letter and the reliability of the contents can be ascertained.

When one tries to tarnish a person he does it to disable it, to take effectiveness away from his action by destroying his reputation. This is so that his leadership actions lose their effectiveness, become inerted, debased.

All my life I fought against the compromises, I didn't bend to requests from this, from that or from companies that tried to deliver materials of lower quality than what was agreed. Obviously I created myself ... (of the enemies, nda). This is nothing new, the underworld always does.

All the checks carried out over the years have shown that these were always groundless accusations.

"Crows" inside or outside the Armed Forces?

Whose prodest? Given that no one has ever informed me of job extensions and that I learned about them from the press, probably someone is worried about my stay or maybe in a hurry to leave it early. I do not believe in the "plot", I believe in a "confluence of interests" of subjects who have an interest in getting rid of an uncomfortable person.

Hit with De Giorgi the image of the Navy?

The image of the Navy is the one that the Italian people have learned to know with facts. The same Marina knows the undersigned from 45 years. I commanded naval and air forces. The people who worked under me know me as "hard but attentive to their needs". A commander who, if he has to inspect a ship or a degraded place, comes as a surprise! I'm certainly not announcing ...

With the "champagne and peanuts" mud machine I have already suffered previous attacks. Never given instructions regarding the presence of champagne and peanuts on board ships.

The problem is that when someone comes in to "whack" ... it bothers!

The white horse.

The news that has appeared should only make people smile, don't give up. Talking about a white horse on a ship ... How do you get a horse on a ship? !!!

I remember the episode, which dates back to twenty years ago. I was invited by the national association of Italian-American policemen to travel with them Little Italy and a part of the Bronx on horseback. It may seem strange to us but there we were in the United States, in the 90s! It was the week of the Vittorio Veneto and, together with three policemen in quadrille, we marched while the Italians greeted us. The horse was from the police - with its saddlecloth - and it wasn't even white. We didn't spend a penny on that demonstration.

But the "crow" wanted to tell something that easily affects the imagination of those who do not know.

A continuous bombardment of calumnies has started, indifferent to denials. Why?

Party parties and prostitutes (via helicopter) aboard ships.

When the ships go abroad, and maybe the naval academy is on board, they do different activities.

I remember that, for example, when our crew went to rebuild a refectory of an orphanage in Brazil, they came on board at the initiative of the Salesians of Don Bosco of the boys to do a demonstration of Capoeira. Elsewhere we were greeted by a Samba school.

"Festini on board at sea! "... Do you think it is plausible that a military ship at sea brings" women of easy morals "on board?

This does not mean that there is no party on board. When a ship passes the equator, for example, it is celebrated. Those who have never passed it are seated and watered with ocean water ... They are ancient seafaring traditions. The boatswain disguises himself as Neptune ... another from Hercules when crossing the "Columns of Hercules" (Strait of Gibraltar, nda). You sing, do karaoke and tug of war ... If you want to tell in a distorted way they become "feasts". Those who have taken a cruise will have many similar memories.

When you finish a great exercise you make a barbecue, you are together. Life on board is not easy. When you are at sea for months you need to find entertainment for the crew. But talking about "feasts" is ridiculous and specious.

Extension to the Navy Summit?

I do not know what the president of the council is thinking, I have never thought of an extension because it does not seem to me to have been customary for a long time to extend the terms of office. I had a natural mandate from 3 and a half years so, frankly, I don't expect any extension and I didn't expect it before. I believe it would be a very strange country if, following the work of a group of defamatory people, an armed force resigns. It would be a very dangerous precedent for a nation that wants to be democratic. What I confirm is that the defense is the defense of the institution even before the man, without prejudice to the fact that if I had made mistakes I will answer in the appropriate forums.

Contracts that - according to the anonymous file - would have been entrusted to inadequate companies?

Aeronautical service? It is a company that has worked for the Defense already in 2008 and therefore in the research and development programs financed by the General Secretariat of Defense. These are programs that serve to develop innovative technologies in various fields, one of the main fields was that of "absorbing radar" panels and panels, let's say treated with nanotechnology, whereby carbon fibers radically change their performance by resisting 1000 degrees of temperature. Carbon usually gives way much earlier. The "radar absorbency" is one of the research objectives in which the state had already invested before I became chief of staff, I think in 2008. I visited an engineering center and saw very interesting things. I had checks done to see if the technology was actually mature as it appeared in the demonstrations. It emerged that in some cases the results were actually those assumed, in others this did not happen, especially if the panel size was slightly increased. Having acquired internally the conviction that the technology was not mature, we decided not not to continue.

Not only was the company not a "ghost" but we didn't even give him a euro! So I can't even figure out what I'm accused of here. Even if I understand yet another crow trick ...

There is documentary evidence of everything, we have no fear, no doubt.

Changes to ships.

I was given the idea by "caprice" of having ships modified to make them more luxurious. All the opposite. I had the cabin planned for the admiral eliminated and I gave the living spaces a much more current connotation. Some ships had been conceived many years ago. I wanted to give more space to certain spaces.

Go and see the Carabiniere ship when it returns from its anti-piracy mission, you will find rational spaces: the canteen was also made suitable for the evacuation of wounded and you will find a place of sociability for the graduates, a novelty. We have expanded and upgraded the non-commissioned officers' accommodation and made the site for polyvalent officers with audiovisual capabilities to be used as planning sites.

The crow says that for this "whim" I would have done a favor by 43 million to Fincantieri. Too bad (with documentary evidence available) I had replied to the Directorate who had announced these prices to me: "Folly! These are not acceptable prices and I ask for a point by point analysis and a real negotiation ".

The negotiation was done and the works were authorized. The figures have been immensely reduced: from 43 million to an average value per ship of 1,4 million.

The changes made were excellent. At the time we didn't know exactly what we were going to meet. With Mare Nostrum the new accommodations have worked excellently. Safe Sea, the anti-piracy ... These ships, not born for complex Commands, have been able to host an International Command.

I am absolutely proud of this, as I am in saying that favoritism to companies I never made. I challenge anyone to prove that I made concessions to some company. Starting from Fincantieri.

 

Intervenendo, the lawyer Nocita (defender of De Giorgi), highlights an aspect: The anonymous accusations "photocopy" were presented at the time of appointment of the admiral as chief of staff ... They were sent to the president of the republic and to the public prosecutor's office. Investigations were carried out as a must, which had no follow-up.

After years the same accusations are re-proposed today.

We have made statements about the facts not to explain them or to clarify them because the prosecutors are very good and do not need clarifications or explanations.

The admiral is only investigated for the crime of abuse of office, no other charge or blame is against him, we are very satisfied. The prosecutors very carefully followed us in our statements so I felt compelled to propose a motivated filing request for the position of my client.

Office abuse?

(lawyer Nocita) Office abuse consists of an act in one's office that serves to violate two rules. The internal rule of the office and favor a third party. We would like to clarify that everything related to the relationship between the Marina and Port of Augusta has been produced: there is no concession or any act of the Navy concerning any person or company of that place. This is why I requested the filing of prosecutors.

It seems to me impossible to hypothesize a crime of "abuse of office" that is committed through "act of public administration" without the deed!