Almasri, Nordio cries conspiracy and shields his loyalist Bartolozzi: but the right remains silent on the minister.

"She's untouchable ," Carlo Nordio told those in the government who were asking him to have Giusi Bartolozzi, the powerful cabinet chief from Via Arenula, who was caught up in the " Almasri" case, step aside. The Minister of Justice's day did not get off to a good start yesterday. His most faithful Sicilian magistrate, now widely held as the primary culprit in the mess surrounding the arrest, which was subsequently not carried out, of the ferocious Libyan general , ended up in the crosshairs. This chaos was immediately highlighted by Luigi Birritteri , then head of the Department of the Administration of Justice (DAG), the office that handles extraditions, who as early as January 19, the day of Almasri's arrest, contrary to what Nordio later declared in Parliament, had alerted the ministerial offices to the correct way to execute the arrest order issued by the international tribunal in The Hague.

To break the impasse and save Bartolozzi's skin, following the old adage that the best defense is a good offense, the Minister of Justice has decided to don his helmet and reject the accusations of having helped the Libyan general escape, accused of violence and rape against migrants held in Tripoli detention centers. What better, in this scenario, than to evoke phantom conspiracies, hypothesizing a connection between the Almasri affair and the separation of magistrates' careers ? " We are on the home stretch of a historic justice reform, and they're trying everything to slow it down or intimidate us, even by inventing blatant hoaxes. What I said in Parliament is the truth, and the facts prove it," Nordio began, sounding combative. “If we have the need, after having consulted with other government colleagues, there is no difficulty in doing so, but I don't see what I could add to what I've already said, given that what I've said is the whole truth and is absolutely exhaustive,” he then added, before showing off his culture to journalists: “You know what General McAuliff said at the siege of Bastogne: 'Nuts'” (which can essentially be interpreted as 'go to hell').

Nordio's attempt, it must be said, is a very clumsy one that demonstrates his weakness and is destined to clash with the wishes of Giorgia Meloni , who has long been annoyed by the overall management of the Ministry of Justice, which is completely out of control and will lead to the failure of the PNRR 's objectives, as trial times have not decreased and the backlog has grown. Nordio's defense promises to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, precisely because of Birritteri's email, to which Bartolozzi responded by urging caution , with the foresight to use only Signal, a highly encrypted messaging app that is difficult to intercept, for communications. Birritteri, who unlike Nordio, was questioned in Piazzale Clodio by magistrates of the Tribunal of Ministers, produced this email, which is now in the case file. An experienced magistrate, he is the one who brought Chico Forti back to Italy, and he has demonstrated that he has no intention of being left holding the baby due to Bartolozzi's intrusiveness.

Many political reactions

"Is it normal for the Minister of Justice to lie to Parliament about such a serious matter as Almasri's? " commented Senator Enrico Borghi, vice president of Italia Viva. " I am astonished to read Nordio's statements about Almasri. First of all, no one asked him to report to the chamber: he already came, he told a load of lies, he lied to Parliament. For us, that's enough. He's already humiliated the institutions enough. He must resign. But above all, the minister's lack of shame is incredible. Instead of leaving Via Arenula for having told the country a load of lies, he's even playing the victim, attacking the press and the judiciary, and even bringing up justice reform," reads a statement from MP and Secretary of +Europa, Riccardo Magi. " Nordio lied to Parliament and allowed the release of a criminal, rapist, and murderer like Almasri. This is the political scandal, nothing else. Nordio should save the honor of the institutions, resign, and let Bartolozzi's behavior be investigated," said Angelo Bonelli, MP for the Green and Left Alliance and co-spokesperson for Europa Verde. " I would say that before a tribunal of ministers, we need a tribunal of truth and decency: we are facing a gigantic scandal in this country," stated Nicola Fratoianni of AVS. The majority, however, remained dead silent.

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Paul Comi