Rome, 30 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Had I been in charge of the RIS, I would not have reported the negative results. Mistakes can happen, but I know these Carabinieri: they are loyal and intellectually honest people.” So said former RIS General Giampietro Lago in an interview to be broadcast this evening on ‘Quarto Grado’ on Retequattro. “Because, above all, I know those people – and know them well. I stood by their side for many, many years. I commanded the RIS for 15 years and I know how upright, loyal and competent they are. Mistakes can happen, of course, but not everything I read is necessarily a mistake. Mistakes are one thing – which, incidentally, we realise when they happen and for which we pay the price – but bad faith or disgraceful acts like these are quite another,” he explains. When he was head of the RIS, Stasi’s defence team asked Lago for the raw data, which he did not hand over. Would he make the same choice again? “Absolutely yes, because I applied the rules rigorously, with consistency and transparency. I took responsibility for that decision. If anyone had felt that I had not complied with the rules or failed to meet standards of fairness, they would have been fully entitled to challenge or contest these actions – something which, to my knowledge, was not done.” “The fact that, when analysing samples in a forensic genetics laboratory, several analytical attempts are carried out is, in my view,” explains Lago, “not at all surprising; it is something entirely normal that happens in all laboratories and has always been the case. The aim is to calibrate the analysis to achieve the best possible result.” But if Lago had been head of the RIS, would he have reported these negative results? “I really don’t think so.”
Garlasco murder case: former RIS commander: “I would not have reported negative results”
Rome, 30 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Had I been in charge of the RIS, I would not have reported the negative results. Mistakes can happen, but I know these Carabinieri: they are loyal and intellectually honest people.” So said former RIS General Giampietro Lago in an interview to be broadcast this evening on ‘Quarto Grado’ on Retequattro. “Because, above all, I know those people – and know them well. I stood by their side for many, many years. I commanded the RIS for 15 years and I know how upright, loyal and competent they are. Mistakes can happen, of course, but not everything I read is necessarily a mistake. Mistakes are one thing – which, incidentally, we realise when they happen and for which we pay the price – but bad faith or disgraceful acts like these are quite another,” he explains. When he was head of the RIS, Stasi’s defence team asked Lago for the raw data, which he did not hand over. Would he make the same choice again? “Absolutely yes, because I applied the rules rigorously, with consistency and transparency. I took responsibility for that decision. If anyone had felt that I had not complied with the rules or failed to meet standards of fairness, they would have been fully entitled to challenge or contest these actions – something which, to my knowledge, was not done.” “The fact that, when analysing samples in a forensic genetics laboratory, several analytical attempts are carried out is, in my view,” explains Lago, “not at all surprising; it is something entirely normal that happens in all laboratories and has always been the case. The aim is to calibrate the analysis to achieve the best possible result.” But if Lago had been head of the RIS, would he have reported these negative results? “I really don’t think so.”