Romanian Witnesses Say Mailat Could Be Innocent In Character Testimony

The two said, upon leaving the hearings, that they even told prosecutors they weren’t actual witnesses to the deed, because, even though they were Mailat’s neighbors, they were at work that day.

 

The two added they later found out about the event, when Italian police came to their camp.

 

"I do not know anything about what happened with him. I only saw the police when they came in and took him, brought him in for questioning and I haven’t seen him since. I hope he is not guilty, I think he is not and so does the whole village (...) I do not know anything because I was at work, my husband was at work, at night we woke up with the police, they came and took him and I never saw him since," the woman said.

 

Regarding the Wednesday hearings, they said they did not yet receive any subpoena to appear in court, even though they have been in the country for about two weeks.

They said they only heard about the hearing Wednesday morning, when they were escorted to the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal.

 

The two spouses said that, since they lived next to Romulus Mailat in the village of Avrig, he came to Italy with their help, and later they were neighbors in the same camp in Italy.

 

The two witnesses were heard in a videoconference within the Mailat trial unfolded in Rome.

 

Alba Iulia Court of Appeal spokesman Cosmin Muntean said this procedure was a first in the Alba Iulia court, and is meant to provide a connection with the Italian court within these hearings.

 

According to the quoted source, there are only two witnesses, whose identity is secret.

 

Sources within the Alba Iulia court said the two witnesses are husband and wife, from the Avrig village in Sibiu county, the birthplace of Romulus Mailat.

 

 

This summer, hearings were resumed in Rome in the trial where Romanian Nicolae Romulus Mailat is charged with the murder, robbery and sexual assault of Italian Giovanna Reggiani, on October 30, 2007.

 

According to Italian media, Mailat’s lawyer said the wounds inflicted on Giovanna Reggiani could not have been cause by only one person.