Luoyang aims to become 'Chinese Culture City'
Century-old jade disc found confirms ancient legend
A serious mind behind Chinese leader
Panda Cubs to Predict 2014 World Cup Winners
China Southern Airlines flight attendants win titles in service contest
Pupil's performance art persuades people to stop smoking
Nie Chenxi's clay tigers
Children's Day wishes
Chinese Kung Fu charms Silicon Valley
Tranquil Yankou ancient town
![]() |
| (Photo/ANSA) |
Venice, June 13 - Giorgio Orsonio quit as Venice mayor Friday in the MOSE flood-barriers graft scandal under pressure from the Democratic Party (PD) that backed him. Orsoni plea-bargained a release from house arrest, accepting a four-month suspended jail term Thursday.
Afterwards, he said nothing would force him to step down.
He said there was "no objective reason" for him to resign.
"I have nothing to reproach myself for," added Orsoni. Orsoni was being probed for illegal financing of political parties over his 2010 city election campaign.
He said that he would return to his position at the helm of the city council and had no intention of retiring.
"I have made many enemies and maybe this is the price I'm paying," Orsoni told a news conference.
"I couldn't know that an illegal system was used (for the 2010 campaign)," he said, adding that he has assigned fund-raising to third parties.
Orsoni was among 35 people arrested earlier this month over the MOSE probe, while around 100 others are under investigation.
These include former Veneto governor and ex-minister Giancarlo Galan, currently a Senator for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) party, and Altero Matteoli, a former centre-right environment and transport minister.
Prosecutors are looking at allegations a corruption scam saw 25 million euros in taxpayers' money funnelled to political campaigns and away from MOSE, a 5.5-billion-euro system of retractable dikes set to be operable in 2016 after decades of delays.
Attendants shine at Xinjiang-Lanzhou high-speed rail
Jiuzhai Valley - fairyland of the world
Can't take eyes off national teams in World Cup
Beijing strips off to celebrate summer
Traditional wedding ceremony of China's Buyi ethnic group
Art school students present works in Nanjing
Xinjiang's first high-speed railway goes on trial run
3D Sea-life Themed Art Garage unveiled in Zhengzhou
A glimpse of beautiful ladies in Chinese women's fitness team
Top 20 hottest women in the world in 2014
Grandpa Kang takes Gaokao for 14th time
Incredible animal migration in Xinjiang
College girl proposes to boyfriend on Weibo
China's top 10 representative architectures announced
Chinese warships set sail to U.S. to join 2014 navy drillDay|Week|Month