Call for disciplinary probe for Lo Voi over Almasri case

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 31 - The centre-right members of the Italian judiciary's self-governining body, the CSM, on Friday called for a disciplinary procedure to be opened into Rome Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi's decision to notify Premier Giorgia Meloni and other members of the government that the case of a Libyan police official who was sent back home from Italy after being detained on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant was being looked at following a complaint by a lawyer.
    The case has escalated into a clash between the government and the judiciary.
    On Thursday Meloni said the decision was "damaging to the nation, to its opportunities," adding that this drives me crazy".
    The centre-right CSM councillors said the disciplinary procedure should examine both the method and timing of Lo Voi's move.
    Meloni has come under fire after Almasri, wanted for the alleged murder of migrants and alleged rape of persons as young as five, was flown back to a hero's welcome in Tripoli after being detained in Italy this month and then released on a technicality and expelled as a dangerous individual.
    The premier said the same notice had been sent to Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and cabinet secretary with the intelligence brief Alfredo Mantovano.
    Magistrates union ANM has said the notifications Lo Voi sent were an obligatory formality after the complaint was filed by attorney Luigi Li Gotti, a former centre-left justice undersecretary from 2006 until 2008. (ANSA).