The secretary general of the
judiciary's union ANM, Salvatore Casciaro, told ANSA on
Wednesday that the State attorney's office in Rome was obliged
to inform Premier Giorgia Meloni and other officials that a
criminal complaint had been filed against them over the release
of wanted alleged war criminal and Libyan police commander Osama
Almasri but the investigation would be carried out by the
tribunal of ministers and not by prosecutors, under a
constitutional law.
The communication that the complaint had been delivered to the
tribunal of ministers "is a due act, contemplated by a
constitutional law that provides for activities of investigation
to be undertaken by the tribunal of ministers and not by the
Republic's State attorneys", said Casciaro, the secretary
general of the National Association of Magistrates (ANM).
"Only in case of complaints that are manifestly unfounded and
fanciful, there can be a very small margin of evaluation" by
prosecutors on whether to transmit the file to the tribunal of
ministers, said Casciaro, adding this had "clearly not been
considered the case" in this instance.
In a video posted on Tuesday afternoon, Meloni said that she had
received notice of a probe over Libyan judicial police commander
Najeem Osema Almasri Habish, wanted for war crimes by the
International Criminal Court (ICC) and arrested in Italy,
released on a technicality, and flown back to Tripoli to a
hero's welcome aboard an Italian secret service plane.
She said she had been notified that she was under investigation
into possible aiding and abetting and embezzlement of public
funds from Rome's chief prosecutor, Francesco Lo Voi, recalling
he had unsuccessfully prosecuted Deputy Premier and Transport
Minister Matteo Salvini for allegedly abducting migrants as part
of his closed ports policy to migrant rescue ships as interior
minister in 2019.
She said the same notice of investigation had been sent to
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo
Piantedosi and cabinet secretary with the intelligence brief
Alfredo Mantovano.
Attorney Luigi Li Gotti on 23 January sent the complaint to the
Rome prosecutor's office on the case of the liberation of
Almasri.
Casciaro also said on Wednesday that allegations that the
notification on Tuesday was in some way connected to the ANM's
criticism of a constitutional judicial reform bill to separate
the career paths of judges and State attorneys was "simply
absurd".
"Magistrates abide by their duty on a daily basis with rigour,
professionality and impartiality", he said, adding that "only
hinting at such scenarios constitutes misinformation".
Under a 1989 constitutional law (art. 6 comma 1 of
constitutional law n. 1/89), prosecutors, "omitting any
investigation", need to deliver within 15 days a complaint they
have received against members of the government to the tribunal
of ministers and immediately notify the affected parties so they
can get legal council and ask to be heard by the tribunal.
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