Elon Musk was speaking as a private
citizen who had honest thoughts about a specific issue and did
not want to affect Italy's sovereignty nor the dynamics of its
institutions with his comments on the Italian judiciary, Musk's
contact in Italy, Andrea Stroppa, told Sky Tg24 on Thursday.
"Musk's words are the outcome of an honest thought concerning a
theme, he did not want to harm the sovereignty of our country
nor the dynamics", said Stroppa, after Musk said Rome judges who
nixed the detention of migrants in Albania under the
government's controversial policy of taking asylum seekers to be
processed in the country "needed to go".
"I believe it is right to remember that he spoke as a private
citizen, as an entrepreneur and not as a figure of an
administration that will take office in a few months", said
Musk's man in Italy.
The Tesla, X and SpaceX owner Musk, who was appointed by US
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday to head a newly created
government efficiency agency, had written via X that "these
judges need to go," on a user's post on the news of the
suspension of the validation of the seven migrants' detention
decided by the immigration section of the court of Rome on
Monday.
Asked whether Musk will be more cautious in the future, Stroppa
replied: "I don't know.
"He had problems with the Biden administration because he said
what he thought.
"If someone thinks he can be intimidated they haven't understood
what he is like", he noted.
And a statement provided to ANSA late Wednesday on behalf of the
tycoon said Musk "hopes relations between the United States and
Italy will be increasingly strong and hopes to meet soon the
president of the Republic", Sergio Mattarella.
"Entrepreneur Elon Musk expresses his respect for the President
of the Republic Mattarella and for the Italian Constitution, as
stressed in a friendly conversation with Premier (Giorgia)
Meloni in the afternoon.
"However, he stresses that the freedom of expression is
protected by the First Amendment and by the Italian Constitution
itself so, as a citizen, he will continue to freely express his
opinions", said the statement.
Mattarella on Wednesday said Italy knows how to take care of
itself after Musk wrote on his platform X that Rome judges who
nixed the detention of a second batch of migrants subjected to
Italy's policy of taking asylum seekers to be processed in
Albania "needed to go".
"Italy is a great democratic country and I must reiterate that
it knows how to take care of itself, while respecting its
Constitution", the president said.
The president on Wednesday went on to say that "anyone,
particularly if, as announced," they are "about to undertake an
important government role in a friendly and allied country, must
respect sovereignty and cannot claim the role of imparting
provisions".
Sources at the prime minister's office on Wednesday said
Premier Giorgia Meloni always listens to President Sergio
Mattarella with great respect, after the head of State's words
over the tycoon's on judges.
"We always listen with great respect to the words of the
President of the Republic", Meloni was quoted as saying by
sources at Palazzo Chigi.
Meanwhile on Thursday Stroppa, the Italian contact for Elon
Musk's SpaceX, also commented on an Italian probe in which he is
involved saying "justice must take its course".
"I am under investigation and it is also an opportunity to be
able to defend oneself, a magistrate must always be respected
and it is necessary to ascertain facts", he noted, replying to a
question over his involvement in a graft probe into tech company
Sogei and the defence and interior ministries.
Stroppa, who is suspected of receiving a confidential
ministerial document from a suspect in exchange for benefits, is
accused by the Rome prosecutor's office of complicity in
corruption.
He added that the probe was "difficult on a personal level but
right, this is how it works in a democratic country".
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