Valter Lavitola on Tg1: "I would have been an idiot if I had organised the attack on Ranucci"
The publisher under investigation for the assault on journalist Sigfrido Ranucci denies the accusations in a Tg1 interview, making light of the timeline and recounting a lunch with the victim linked to a political poll.
Valter Lavitola on Tg1: "I would have been an idiot if I had organised the attack on Ranucci"
Valter Lavitola, under investigation for the attack on journalist Sigfrido Ranucci, responded to the accusations in a Tg1 interview, dismissing every charge with ironic tones.
"The attack happened in October, the poll was done in June — he stated — I would have been a complete idiot, or I got my calendar wrong". He then added: "Even worse if we had done it together, him and me, we would have been two morons, not just one".
The publisher reconstructed the origins of his meeting with Ranucci. As part of international contacts developed in democratic and socialist circles, he had been shown a poll on potential and current leaders of the European left, among whom was the presenter of Report. Lavitola recounted that he had invited Ranucci to lunch to discuss it, but said he felt rebuffed by the journalist, who apparently thought it was a joke. After insisting, he said he challenged him, receiving "four questions" in the manner of a correction.
Lavitola stated that there would be a "heap of messages" already in the prosecution's possession. Regarding the driver currently in Cameroon, he specified that he would provide the investigators with "the elements that explain everything", saying that the driver had sent him a message announcing his return.
When questioned about reports that those who had problems with Report would turn to him, Lavitola responded by threatening further legal action: "I have already prepared a lawsuit, please do not make me file another one against you as well".
Finally, he commented on Ranucci's words ("Lavitola cannot have done it and if he did, he did not do it to harm me"), stating that that "if" was beginning to make him doubt the existence of a friendship. He then lamented that the journalist had alluded to the matter of his son, "which is the reason for my enormous gratitude towards him".
Source: Corriere della Sera
Source: Corriere della Sera - Cronache