“I had gone to testify in Court in Milan for him on the Ruby affair. It happened that in 2010, from Minister of Agricultural PoliciesI was present at a meeting between Berlusconi and the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. I was at their table. I basically stated that I heard they were talking about a certain Ruby, an Egyptian singer. It wasn’t trueI hadn’t heard anything.”
The former governor of Veneto who fell for the investigation into the MOSEGiancarlo Galan, thus revealed during an interview with Corriere della Serato have testified falsely at the Ruby trial in 2012. Why? “Because it was Berlusconi, the man who had changed my life, who had made me happy by making me earn a boatload of money in the most beautiful setting in the world. Because for me he was an exceptional person. I have no hard feelings towards him.”
The “doge” speaks of resentment in reference to the fact that he was also abandoned by Berlusconi, despite the “great favor” of the Ruby trial. “When I was arrested he gave it to my wife 100mila euro, officers eh, donation – he tells Corsera again -. After a few months he gave him another 100 thousand. Then nothing more, not even a phone call.” It’s all the fault of the former prime minister’s magic circle at the time, according to Galan: “They first cajoled me with this money, then they made me believe that, if I hadn’t spoken, I would have lived the good life anyway – he claims -. The lawyer Ghedini, who didn’t want a single euro from me, strongly advised me first to make use of the right not to respond and then to settle. And, once the deal was reached, when I was no longer a danger to anyone, best regards. Understood? I did the scapegoat. If I could go back like hell I would settle.”
The fact is that after years the numbers on the MOSE still don’t add up and we don’t know where it almost ended up 1 billion euros. As for Berlusconi, Galan didn’t even go to the funeral: “I said to myself: if he didn’t want to see me alive, why would he want to see me dead?”.