Premier Giorgia Meloni's claims that
methods once used against late premier Silvio Berlusconi are now
being used against her sister Arianna are "an umpteenth attack
on on the judiciary, aimed at delegitimizing it by hinting at
alleged plots," magistrates union ANM said in a note Monday.
"(This is) a dangerous exercise that weakens the Republican
institutions and damages the whole country," said the union of
prosecutors and judges.
Conservative daily Il Giornale said Arianna Meloni, who is also
head of the secretariat of her sister's rightwing Brothers of
Italy (FdI) party, was the subject of unknown probes possibly
linked to her involvement in key appointments.
Premier Meloni has said she considers "very plausible" an
editorial published by Milan daily Il Giornale claiming that
media hostile to the government, the left and some prosecutors
are allegedly scheming against her sister.
The editorial's headline read: "They want to investigate Arianna
Meloni".
"It is a scheme that has been repeatedly seen, in particular
against (ex-premier and Forza Italia founder) Silvio Berlusconi:
a system of power which uses any method and any expedient in
order to defeat a political enemy that wins a democratic
competition at the ballots", Meloni told ANSA over the phone
late Sunday, from the resort in Puglia where she is spending her
summer holiday.
After "searching my life and that of every person close to me,
without finding anything", she said, "the worst" form of
politics is using "paltry and desperate moves", including
against her elder sister..
The premier continued saying that, if such a report were
confirmed, and "they have moved on to smear campaigns and the
elaboration of theories in hopes of some fanciful investigation
against people close to me, starting with my sister Arianna, it
would be very grave".
Meloni added however that "it would also be a good sign" because
it would mean that "we are dismantling a system of interests
that has been keeping Italy hostage for too many years".
The editorial penned by il Giornale's editor Alessandro Sallusti
cited, among others, media reports on Arianna Meloni's alleged
involvement in key public-sector appointments.
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