State broadcaster Rai said on Monday
it will not be airing a new five-minute current affairs
programme hosted by a journalist at the centre of a political
storm in relation to alleged sexism and victim blaming towards a
young woman who has reported Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa's
son for alleged sexual assault.
CEO Roberto Sergio took the decision on Filippo Facci's
participation in the programming schedule in agreement with the
director of in-depth analysis Paolo Corsini and general director
Giampaolo Rossi, according to a statement.
Last week Sergio faced calls to refrain from giving the new slot
on Rai 2 to Facci after he wrote that "a 22-year-old girl was
undoubtedly high on cocaine before getting high on Leonardo
Apache La Russa".
The phrase sparked a storm of criticism from opposition parties
and the condemnation of the Italian National Press Federation
FNSI and other journalists' groups.
On Tuesday Sergio told the board of directors "it is not my
habit to decide on the basis of instrumental and emotional
political campaigns" but added that a decision would be taken
"within a short period of time".
Leonardo La Russa is under investigation for allegedly sexually
assaulting a former classmate after a night at a Milan night
club in May.
The case has grabbed headlines in Italy as his father Ignazio
holds the second highest office of state and is a top exponent
of Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI)
party.
On Friday La Russa senior's office expressed faith in the work
being done by Milan prosecutors, while saying media coverage of
the case had gone too far.
At the end of last week's NATO summit, Meloni distanced herself
from a previous statement in which La Russa defended his son and
called into question the alleged victim's version of events on
grounds she had taken cocaine.
"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.
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