Case of Cospito, Meloni: “Lower the tones”. And locks Delmastro

After five days of absolute silence, Giorgia Meloni takes a position on the case involving the undersecretary of Justice, Andrea Delmastro, and the FDI deputy, Giovanni Donzelli.

The Prime Minister, who in Berlin after the bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had avoided the matter, says in a letter sent to the Corriere della Sera to try to contain the controversy and pressure from the oppositions who in chorus called for the resignation of both members of the Brothers of Italy after Donzelli in the Chamber of the Chamber criticized some deputies of the Democratic Party for having visited Alfredo Cospito in prison , however, citing conversations between the anarchist and two mobsters contained in documents in Demastro’s possession.

The move studied at Palazzo Chigi, however, did not have the desired effect. Indeed, Pd and M5s after seeing the lines written by Meloni return to the office with greater vehemence.

On the other hand, in the letter the prime minister does not ‘let go’ of the two big names of the party via della Scrofa, rather blinding Demastro for not believing that there are “in no way the conditions for the resignation that someone asked for”. In addition, recalls Meloni, the information contained in the documentation, which the Ministry of Justice clarified was not confidential, “was even anticipated by some means of communication”.

In short, no scandal for the prime minister who, she confesses, has so far avoided intervening in order “not to fuel a controversy that I consider counterproductive for everyone”. And this because “the tones have risen too high”, therefore “I invite everyone, starting with the exponents of the Brothers of Italy, to bring them back to the level of a frank but respectful confrontation”. A general memory, with a particular reference that brings to light above all Demastro and Donzelli, protagonists in the Chamber and in the press of statements not shared in Chigi. This is demonstrated by the passage in which Meloni admits that “a certainly excessive accusation” has been leveled against the Democratic Party.

It is at this point, however, that the letter is aimed precisely at the dem party. “I find the Pd’s indignation unique”, says Meloni recalling past events, when “the left raised against me, leader of the opposition, the accusations of ‘being the moral instigator of deaths at sea’ or of leading a ‘subversive party'”.

Meloni does not stop, adding that he considers it “paradoxical” that the left cannot be held responsible “for its choices, when at the origin of the controversies these days the visit to Cospito of a qualified representative of the Democratic Party is objectively placed, at a time when the inmate intensified its efforts to communicate with the outside world”. And still: “What impresses me, even more than that visit, is that after having learned – from what the press reported on the subject – of the relationship between Alfredo Cospito and the mafia bosses in harsh prison, and knowing a lot no matter how much the Mafia accepts to question the 41bis, authoritarian exponents of the Democratic Party continue to call for the repeal of the institute for Cospito, pretending not to understand the implications that this choice would have had above all in terms of the fight against organized crime”.

Calls to the dem over, Meloni tries to throw water on the fire, highlighting the fact that “the climate is dangerously and rapidly overheating”. “Threats to Italian institutions appear everywhere, here at home and abroad”, writes the prime minister referring to the activity of anarchists, protagonists still today with organized marches in Milan, Rome and Naples to show solidarity with Cospito and stand up for themselves. demonstrate against 41 bis. “It is clear that we are not facing one of the many controversies that agitate the political world – he adds -, but with a decidedly disturbing situation that risks having serious consequences. State, in all its articulations and components, in defense of legality. It is an appeal I make to everyone, politicians, journalists, commentators. So that tomorrow we don’t have to look back and find that, without understanding the gravity of what was happening, we all ended up being responsible for an escalation that could take us anywhere.”

A few hours after the letter was published, however, M5s leader Giuseppe Conte again asked Meloni to “force two of his supporters to resign, because they collected confidential information and used it to attack an opposition force, for the purposes of mere political struggle”. Tougher still is the Democratic Party, which goes on the attack with a counter-mission signed by secretary Enrico Letta and the leaders of the dem group Simona Malpezzi and Debora Serracchiani. “Unfortunately, we read the words of a party leader who defends his people beyond the indefensible and, for that, launches instrumental and cruel arguments against the opposition – they declare -. A letter that rekindles the fire instead of putting it out”.

Meloni’s statements on the need for responsible behavior, they continue, “lead us to remember that the Democratic Party has in its DNA the protection of freedom, democracy, republican institutions, the rule of law and is and will always be a builder of unity and national cohesion. It is not, therefore, to us that the appeal should be directed, but to the Fdi, of which he is leader and president, who has broken this political unity with defamatory and slanderous accusations precisely in one of the most important parliamentary moments, the vote for the establishment of the Anti-Mafia Commission”.

The clash, therefore, is far from over, even though Meloni sends a clear message in the FDI parliamentarians’ chat at night: “All the outlines of this story are quite worrying, including the moment that almost superimposes the birth of the government on “the start of the Cospito hunger strike. It is possible that I am exaggerating and I hope so, but whatever happens, everyone needs to be focused and serious. From the responses to my appeal, I believe that the opposition prefers to continue fueling the controversy. We shall see, but whatever happens, I invite you not to participate. We are still working to try to provide answers”.