Italian top manager released from prison

By Zulfiya Bainekeeva

Italian Flavio Sidagni  sentenced in 2010 to 6 years of imprisonment for drug-related deals, was released from prison on August 1. The specialized inter-district court on criminal cases of Atyrau Oblast satisfied his petition for conditional early relief. 

Homeland helped

To recall, Flavio Sidagni, the ex-financial top manager of Agip, in April 2010 was detained in his room in Renco hotel. National security agency police officers caught him red-handed with 112,73 grama of hashish and 57,53 grams of cannabis. He was charged with “Large-scale purchase, possession and drug dealing”, “Large scale drug smuggling” and “Drug use corruption”.  

The video where Flavio was smoking cannabis in the company of his friends was attached to the criminal case.

The court declined all other charges excep the first one – “Drug dealing” and his prison terms was reduced to 6 years.

He served his term in the Atyrau prison #157/1.

Flavio, despite his weak state of health (in the prison it turned out that he had hypertension, bad backbone and joints, as well as tumor of parotid glands, but he didn’t give up. He used every information resource to remind of himself and his story had a considerable resonance. The largest Italian newspaper La Repubblica published his story. And, as AkZhaik wrote earlier in 2012, the publication in mass media “gave its results: PM of Italy Silvio Berlusconi during his visit to Astana on December 10, 2010, spoke with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev about my case. The president of Italy Giorgio Napolitano met in Rome with the Kazakh Ambassador to Italy and made a stand for me. Prime Minister Mario Monti also supported me …” Sidagni said that “the case is almost unique, because there over 2900 Italians serving terms in foreign prisons, but very few receive so much support at such high level as I did”.

Flavio claimed that due to Berlusconi’s help, as well as the Italian Embassy in Kazakhstan, he was kept in Atyrau detention centre, instead of serving his term in a high security colony.

Flavio wasn’t released on amnesty. He served two thirds of his term and submitted a petition about conditional early relief.

He wrote three petitions and all three times the management of a pre-trial detention center where he served his sentence, gave a negative conclusion. Although, according to the existing legislative practice, the correctional facility itself should have initiated such petition. Apparently, the pre-trial detention center during these more than 4 years became so attached to the jail bird that they didn't want to release him.

- Two thirds of his term of punishment expired in April of this year.  We wrote petitions in May and in June. Today in court with the assistance of prosecutor's office and in the presence of employees of a pre-trial detention center we proved that my client, despite the negative conclusions of administration of prison, mended his way and during all these years he had no disciplinary records, but had recognitions for positive behavior, - says Sidagni’s lawyer Nurlan Zholbolov.

The court ruled Sidagni’s early release from serving the remaining one year and eight months of imprisonment. After the court’s decision comes into force in 15 days, Sidagni has the right to leave Kazakhstan, says the lawyer. At the end of the court’s session, we asked him about his state of health and the excited Flavio answered in English: “Now better!” and then added in Russian: “Spasibo!”

Photos by Kanat Eleuov