On La Russa jr I would not have intervened says Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 12 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday she would not have intervened on the merits of a case involving Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa's son Leonardo, who has been accused by a young woman of sexual violence at his home after an evening at a Milan disco.
    "As a mother I can understand the suffering of the Senate speaker, although I would not have intervened on the merits of the issue," Meloni told reporters after the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
    On Friday Ignazio La Russa a top exponent of Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, issued a statement defending his son and calling into question the alleged victim's version of events on grounds she had taken cocaine.
    He also said the fact that she filed the complaint 40 days after the alleged assault on May 18 "objectively raises many doubts".
    His comments sparked a storm of protest from the opposition.
    "By nature I tend to sympathize with a girl who speaks out, and I don't consider the timing to be a problem," Meloni said.
    The premier also recalled that in early June the government approved a bill clamping down on gender-based violence after a string of headline-grabbing femicides in Italy.
    "This has always been the work that speaks for us," said Meloni.
    "I hope I have clarified my point of view on this matter," she added.
    The bill includes new restraining orders and heightened surveillance on men found guilty of domestic violence and it also boosts the emergency gender violence hotline.
    The measures aim to interrupt the cycle of violence" and to "act promptly and effectively", according to Family and Equal Opportunities Minister Eugenia Roccella. (ANSA).