Meloni slams the judiciary, and the National Magistrates' Association responds: "We don't engage in politics; we only respect the Constitution."

"Magistrates are not involved in politics; they do their job every day despite insults, intimidation, and a constant campaign of delegitimization that damages the very foundations of our democratic state." This is the terse and harsh response from the Central Executive Committee of the National Association of Magistrates to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's accusations.

In the last few hours, the prime minister has repeatedly lashed out at the judiciary, beginning with the announcement that the Tribunal of Ministers had shelved her position on the Almasri case , and she did so again with another post on social media and in an interview on Tg5 last night. "The left is resorting to the courts to defeat us," these were her words, among others, which reignite a never-ending conflict between the two branches of government.

The ANM's statement continues: "Justice is administered in the name of the people. Judges are subject only to the law. This is stated in Article 101 of our Constitution, which is a cornerstone of our democracy. The Italian judiciary will continue to carry out its duties with profound respect for its constitutional mandate. There is no plan against the executive; to assert this would be to misunderstand how the separation of powers in the state works ."

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio returns to the matter of his cabinet chief , Giusi Bartolozzi , at the center of the investigation into the Almasri affair, even though she is not currently under formal investigation. Bartolozzi is said to have played a key role in managing the release of the Libyan general accused of war crimes and wanted by the International Criminal Court. "After continuous, public, and uninterrupted reporting on the role of my cabinet chief, Dr. Giusi Bartolozzi, I read the motivation of the Ministerial Tribunal and the inferences drawn from it by some newspapers. Just as President Meloni found it surreal that her ministers acted without her consent, I too find it puerile to suggest that my cabinet chief acted independently," the minister said.

I reiterate that all, absolutely all of her actions were in compliance with my orders, for which I obviously assume political and legal responsibility. The mere suggestion, which I learned with horror, that any indictment of my collaborator is a ploy to assign to the criminal jurisdiction a task that is now purely parliamentary, horrifies me, because it would constitute a political exploitation of the justice system. I hope these insinuations will end, and that Parliament, in accordance with the Constitutional Law, will definitively rule on the role of my ministry, of which, I repeat, I am the sole and responsible head.

We recall that, according to the investigation documents, Bartolozzi allegedly obstructed the correct procedure by requesting maximum confidentiality, preferring communications via the Signal app to avoid formal traces , and failing to submit to Minister Nordio the draft measure that could have prevented Almasri's release.

Furthermore, his testimony was deemed "unreliable and mendacious" by investigators , with serious contradictions regarding the actual sharing of information with Minister Nordio, with whom he claimed to be in frequent contact. Testimonies also reveal that the possibility of expelling Almasri on a state flight if he were released by judicial authorities was discussed.

The Rome Prosecutor's Office is evaluating a specific case against him that could lead to a trial in ordinary court, thus leaving open the possibility of indirect involvement of ministers. Bartolozzi thus appears to be a "weak link" in this complex legal case, with charges primarily regarding omissions and non-transparent management of Almasri's detention, which culminated in his release and repatriation. But when a minister assumes full responsibility for all decisions, subordinates become executors who are difficult to blame.

The request made to the Speaker of the Chamber by Avs group leader Luana Zanella to make all the attachments relating to the Almasri case public and available to all deputies, rather than just the request from the judicial authority, was rejected. Speaker Lorenzo Fontana —according to parliamentary sources—replied to the parliamentarian's letter with a letter emphasizing that an "absolutely consolidated and uncontradicted practice" requires that only the authorization request be made public ("printed in full and also published online—and therefore available to all"), as will be "the minutes of the Council meetings as well as the Council's report submitted following its reporting activity to the Assembly." Fontana's letter explains that "the attachments and additional documents sent by the judicial authority" are reserved for consultation by members of the Council only. This is a procedure recognized, as noted in several precedents.

The case began on January 6 , when the head of the Libyan judicial police began his journey to Europe, flying from Tripoli to London with a stopover at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. After staying in the British capital for seven days, on January 13, Almasri traveled by train to Brussels and then continued on to Germany, traveling by car with a friend. On his way to Munich on January 16, he was stopped by police for a routine check and allowed to continue. He eventually arrived in Turin by car to attend a football match.

On Saturday, January 18, twelve days after the Libyan commander began his tour of Europe, the International Criminal Court—with a majority of two judges to one—issued an arrest warrant for the general for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Mittiga prison, near Tripoli, since February 2011. According to documents from The Hague, 34 people were killed and a child raped in that prison under his command.

On Sunday, January 19, Almasri, who had recently arrived in the Piedmont capital, was arrested and taken into custody by the Italian police. He was later released on January 21 by order of the Court of Appeal due to a procedural error: it was an irregular arrest, because the International Criminal Court had not previously forwarded the documents to the Minister of Justice Nordio.

The arrest was not "preceded by discussions with the Minister of Justice, who is responsible for relations with the International Criminal Court; this minister was appointed to this office on January 20, immediately after receiving the documents from the Turin Police Headquarters, and to date has not made any request in this regard," according to the order from the Rome Court of Appeal, which orders the immediate release.

Shortly after his release, the same day, the Libyan commander was repatriated from Italy on a state flight , before being carried in triumph by dozens of his supporters who greeted him with cheers. The series of events sparked heated protests from the opposition and from the International Criminal Court itself , after the failed surrender of a man they wanted arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity. "We are seeking, and have not yet received, verification from the authorities of the steps taken," the International Criminal Court said.

A couple of days later, the government officially intervened for the first time, through Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi , who provided an initial response during question time in the Senate: once released from prison by order of the Court of Appeal, Almasri was " repatriated to Tripoli, for urgent security reasons , with my expulsion order, given the dangerousness of the individual" and because since his release "he had been 'at liberty' in Italy".