Apostolico case 'serious embarrassment' - Salvini

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 6 - The case of Iolanda Apostolico, the Catania judge already at the centre of a political storm for overturning a detention order against four Tunisian nationals being held at a Sicilian pre-removal facility amid claims of bias before publication on Thursday of video footage from 2018 showing her at a protest demonstration against the closed-port policies of the government of the time, "is a source of serious embarrassment for the institutions", Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday.
    "I count on everyone's cooperation so that common sense and balance prevail," he added.
    On Thursday morning Salvini posted the video showing Apostolico and her partner at a protest organised at Catania port on August 25, 2018 to call for the immediate disembarkation of dozens of rescued refugees and migrants who had been kept aboard the coast guard ship Diciotti for over a week under his orders as interior minister at the time.
    Apostolico reportedly later told colleagues she had positioned herself between police and the demonstrators to try to prevent contact after earlier clashes.
    Meanwhile, on Friday opposition parties raised questions about why the video existed in the first place and called on Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi to explain.
    "The witch hunt unleashed by Salvini against the person of Judge Apostolico is really incredibly serious" and what happened on Thursday "deserves answers, which Minister Piantedosi must give", said centre-left Democratic Party (PD) senators Anna Rossomando and Walter Verini.
    "How did that video come out and from where? Who made it? Are there perhaps dedicated archives? The episode raises disturbing questions," they added.
    The opposition Five Star Movement (M5S) took a similar line.
    "The question we asked ourselves is how did the minister get hold of the video? Are demonstrators being profiled? Is profiling being used to gather confidential information? To fuel hatred and rancour against a magistrate who has taken a decision that this government does not like?" said M5S deputy Lower House whip Vittoria Baldino.
    "I hope the minister (Piantedosi, ed.) will deign to answer (these questions) because this is what all citizens are wondering and have the right to know," she added.
    Apostolico drew strong criticism from the government and politicians last weekend after she overturned detention orders against four Tunisian nationals being held at the newly-opened pre-expulsion centre (CPR) at the Pozzallo first reception centre, or hotspot, in Sicily under a new law providing for the detention of asylum-seekers from so-called safe countries of origin during the assessment of their claim on grounds it is unconstitutional and in breach of EU and international law.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni said she was "astonished" by the decision and the interior ministry said it would appeal against the ruling, amid allegations - based on social media posts - that the judge is biased.
    The row prompted members of the Italian judiciary's self-governing body CSM to present a request for a procedure to be opened to protect Apostolico. (ANSA).