Anti-mafia commission to investigate, then we'll see -Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 12 - The Parliamentary Anti-mafia Commission must be allowed to complete its investigation into the case of alleged snooping by a finance police officer on Italian public figures including many right-wing politicians and celebrities before further steps are decided, Premier Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday.
    "Right now the Anti-mafia commission, which has powers of investigation, is working (on the issue)," said Meloni during the signing of the Development and Cohesion Agreement between the government and the autonomous province of Trento.
    "We need to see how far the Anti-Mafia Commission is able to go, then assess whether something else is needed," she continued, referring to recent calls by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio and Defence Minister Guido Crosetto for a parliamentary commission of inquiry with investigative powers to look into the alleged abuse by Pasquale Striano of the so-called 'SOS' system, which enables officials to rummage through the information stored on databases of individuals if the authorities receive a report of a suspect financial operation by them, while he was deployed at the National Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Department.
    Striano and 13 others are under investigation in Perugia in relation to the case.
    "It's also an issue of timing," added the premier.
    "It takes a few months to set up a new commission. Today, we already have a commission working on the issue and we need to make it work as well as possible. At the outcome of the Anti-Mafia commission's work, it must be assessed whether other tools are needed," repeated Meloni.
    However, the premier said that is it fundamental to "get to the bottom" of the case.
    "What is emerging is objectively incredible and shameful for a State under the rule of law," she said.
    The case has become political, in part because many of the public figures allegedly snooped on are on the right of the political spectrum, with the victims demanding to know if Striano was following orders from above.
    The finance police officer is alleged to have illegally accessed the data of figures including Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party bigwig Crosetto, Business Minister Adolfo Urso (also FdI), Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida (also FdI), Labour Minister Marina Elvira Calderone, Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, Silvio Berlusconi's former partner and MP Marta Fascina, ex-premiers Giuseppe Conte (and his partner Olivia Paladino) and Matteo Renzi, rapper and TV personality Fedez, soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, Confindustria business group chief Carlo Bonomi and League leader Matteo Salvini's girlfriend Francesca Verdini.
    National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Melillo told the Parliamentary Anti-mafia Commission in a report last week that he thought it unlikely Striano had acted alone.
    "I believe there are many elements that conflict with the idea of an action conceived and organised by a single, supposedly unfaithful officer," he said.
    "One of the central points of Perugia prosecutors will be to understand Striano's person and system of relations," he added.
    Prosecutors believe that some of the data allegedly obtained by Striano was used for journalistic purposes, while other data may have been passed on to a private investigator or used by Striano for personal purposes. (ANSA).