“Excessive” times of justice. Impossible to respect the ultimatum of December 31st, but the judge suggests a way
PALERMO – The premises that host the Virgin gym in Palermo remain under seizure. The judge for preliminary investigations Fabio Pilato rejected the request made by the defense of Filippo Basile, owner of the properties. The provision was expected for today and has been issued.
This means that the last card left to the defense is an appeal to the Review Court, but it is inevitable that the fitness giant will strive: premises fully available by 31 December or termination of the lease.
A hypothesis remains at stake, suggested by the judge, but whose practicability is to be verified: to operate the narrow-gauge gym.
The two previous appeals
Last May the Supreme Court had accepted one of the two appeals presented by the lawyer Sergio Monaco, defender of Basile, establishing that the declaration of the start of the works was enough and not the permission to build for the renovation of the premises that once housed the Avantgarden.
At the same time, however, the supreme judges had declared inadmissible a second appeal, namely that on the increase in the urban load due to the establishment of the Virgin. The Supreme Court underlined that it did not fall within its competence and therefore made definitive the device of the Review which in the previous January had given the Prosecutor’s opinion right.
And it is precisely this precedent judged that according to the investigating magistrate Pilate, prevents the release from seizure “while reaffirming the conviction about the non-existence of the periculum in mora and the absence of an appreciable aggravation of the pre-existing urban load”.
Excessive times
At the same time, the judge underlined “the excessive prolongation of the preliminary investigation phase in the permanence of a seizure which entails a substantial frustration of the rights of the defense”. 13 months have passed and, writes the judge, “once the originally feared risk of collapse has been excluded (this is why the initial seizure took place ed) it is believed that the excessive duration of the seizure creates an objective disproportion between the real protection needs preventive and practical repercussions arising from the total paralysis of a productive activity (employees, company impoverishment, etc.) “.
A possible solution?
The judge, even if it is not part of his duties, suggests a way. The aggravation of the urban load was identified by the prosecutor and the court in the greater exploitation of the urbanization works (sewage systems, roads, etc.) compared to the previous gym housed in the premises. At this point, writes the investigating judge, “the path of immediate resumption of activities could well emerge through a numerical limitation of the influx of the public or through the limitation of sports activities that can be practiced at the same time in order to contain the exploitation of services within the limit of the urban load pre-existing “.
It is not in court, however, that the issue can be addressed. It is up to Virgin Active and Basile to understand if the road is viable. If Virgin were to legitimately decide to leave Palermo it would be a serious damage for the entrepreneur, for the company and for the employees who would lose their jobs. “A provision that leaves us perplexed and embittered. At stake is the life and work of people ”, comments the lawyer Sergio Monaco.
