(Adnkronos) – Foreign minister Antonio Tajani has slammed a judicial investigation of premier Giorgia Meloni and three other top government figures for abetting the release and repatriation of a Libyan war crimes suspect, calling the probe “treacherous” and politically motivated.
“Informing prime minister Meloni, ministers Nordio and Piantedosi and undersecretary Mantovano that they are under investigation is a treacherous attack on the government by the judiciary,” Tajani told Corriere della Sera on Wednesday.
Meloni said on Tuesday that she was under investigation by Rome’s chief prosecutor Francesco Le Voi for abetting Libyan police brigadier Osama Elmasry Njeem Njeem and misusing public funds by flying him back to Libya last week aboard a state aircraft two days after his arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant.
Justice minster Carlo Nordio, interior minister Matteo Piantedosi and cabinet undersecretary for intelligence, Alfredo Mantovano were also being probed over the Njeem case, Meloni said.
Piantedosi told parliament last week that Njeem had been swiftly repatriated “for reasons of state security” after his arrest in Italy.
The investigation of Meloni, Piantedosi, Nordi and Mantovano is being carried out “by a judiciary which does not tolerate reform of the justice system,” Tajani alleged.
Tajani’s claim referred to opposition by judges and prosecutors to a flagship government bill that contains sweeping legal reforms in a significant amendment to Italy’s constitution.
“It was like this for (late media mogul and ex-premier Silvio) Berlusconi, then for (anti-immigrant former interior minister Matteo) Salvini, now it’s Meloni’s turn,” Tajani said.
“Some magistrates should read the constitution which they tout more carefully, because it says power belongs to the people and reforms are written by Parliament – the exact opposite of what they allege,” Tajani said.
The probe follows a legal complaint filed by a lawyer, Luigi Li Gotti, who helped initiate an investigation of Salvini for his 2019 decision as interior minister to bar boat from docking in Italy, leaving over 100 migrants stranded at sea for nearly three weeks . A court acquitted Salvini in the high-profile case last month, after a three-year trial.
Le Voi, who is investigating Meloni, Salvini, Piantedosi and Mantovano in the Njeem case, also probed Salvini for the alleged kidnapping 147 migrants in 2019 when he barred Spanish Charity Open Arms’ boat from docking in Italy. Magistrates eventually seized the boat and ordered the migrants be brought ashore.
