Italian magistrates union ANM on
Saturday denounced the "delegitimization" of the judiciary by
the government and the justice ministry in relation to judicial
proceedings underway against two members of the executive in
Rome and Milan.
Government sources made "a very heavy accusation that strikes at
the heart of the judiciary", said ANM president Giusppe
Santalucia in relation to a statement issued by Palazzo Chigi on
Thursday evening challenging the forced indictment by a Rome
judge of Justice Undersecretary Delmastro Delle Vedove for
allegedly revealing official secrets and questioning the
legitimacy of media revelations about a probe involving Tourism
Minister Daniela Santanché for suspected fraudulent bankruptcy
and false accounting in Milan.
In the statement, sources at Palazzo Chigi suggested that part
of the judiciary has decided to take part in the opposition.
Santalucia also said a subsequent statement made by the justice
ministry on Friday describing the Delmastro ruling as
"unreasonable" and saying that it demonstrated "the
irrationality of our system" joined "the voices of
delegitimisation".
Delmastro, a member of Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of
Italy (FdI) party, is under investigation in relation to
revelations made in parliament about the case of jailed
anarchist leader Alfredo Cospito by Giovanni Donzelli, a fellow
FdI MP.
The case concerns an alleged breach of secrecy rules as
Delmastro, who is also Donzelli's flat mate, was the source of
the information his fellow MP disclosed in parliament.
On Thursday, a Rome preliminary investigations judge decided to
reject the prosecution's request for the case to be shelved and
order that it instead file a request for his indictment.
"What is needed is a radical reform that fully implements the
prosecution system," justice ministry sources said on Friday
morning, adding that now "'the prosecution will merely insist on
the request for his acquittal consistent with its request for
the probe to be shelved".
Santanché, who is also a member of Meloni's FdI, is reportedly
under investigation in relation to allegations of fraudulent
bankruptcy and false accounting regarding the Visibilia
publishing group that she founded, although on Wednesday she
told parliament she was not being probed and on Thursday she
denied having received official notification from the judicial
authorities in this respect.
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