Commentary
Meloni’s ambitious goal: exempt herself from the rule of law
So it has nothing to do with any prejudiced magistrates, there are no conspiracies, nor is there an opposition out for blood that the Prime Minister has to challenge “with her head held high.”
The fact that the Prime Minister's first thought when she got the news that she is being investigated for the Libyan torturer's state-facilitated escape from justice was to turn on the camera, proudly wave the court document in front of it and repeat “I cannot be blackmailed” over and over again with a piercing look is simply another confirmation of how illusory and counterproductive it is to think that it would be possible to take her down by pointing to a transgression of the criminal code.
This is well known to anyone who has been paying even a little attention over the past 30 years and has heard of a certain Berlusconi (or a certain Trump). Meloni seems almost pleased to be able to claim that she too is being investigated by the same prosecutor Salvini was, to no effect in his case. The ways of propaganda are endless.
That magistrate, the chief prosecutor of Rome, is not some Jacobin persecutor of the powerful, but a moderate exponent of the right-wing current among the judiciary. None other than Meloni's closest collaborator, Undersecretary Mantovano, is a historical leading figure of this current.
On Wednesday, the same right-wing current won the internal elections among the members of the judiciary: the narrative of a supposedly left-wing, all-opposition judiciary is largely exaggerated. The lawyer who filed the complaint against Meloni also happens to be a right-winger, from the same part of the political spectrum as Fratelli d’Italia.
Moreover, in the Elmasry scandal, it is simply impossible to argue that the senior Roman magistrates at the Prosecutor's Office and Court of Appeals put up any roadblocks to obstruct the bungling of the situation by the Prime Minister’s Office, Interior Ministry and Ministry of Justice. If anything, the magistrates cooperated poorly with the ICC, which is now demanding explanations. It would seem that the government scored yet another own goal by trying to shift all the responsibility for the embarrassing affair onto the Roman magistrates with Piantedosi's and Nordio's initial statements. Now the two are reduced to hiding from Parliament, where they will have to explain themselves at some point. And if we’re on the subject of setting torturers free, the government that let Kappler escape at least didn’t escort him home (and a minister resigned).
So it has nothing to do with any prejudiced magistrates, there are no conspiracies, nor is there an opposition out for blood that the Prime Minister has to challenge “with her head held high.” The government's path is still rather bumpy, but that’s only because of their stumbling pace combined with their ambitious goal: nothing less than extricating themselves from the rule of law and the international institutions that still care about upholding it.
We are one step away from Mussolini’s famous “many enemies, much honor,” and after Meloni's video lobbing accusations against the International Criminal Court – accusations full of falsehoods – the judges who will decide on the new migrant deportations must now watch their backs. These are judges whom the government has carefully chosen to handle the matter, but they too remain subject to the same constitutional and European law that so far have made the “Albania model” a failed one.
It would be a mistake, then, to bank on the judicial aspects the Elmasry case, which the Ministers' Court will most likely dismiss quickly. But the political case is certainly not closed. Meloni herself has reopened it, doubling down on Piantedosi's justifications with more authority and more emphasis. She claimed the torturer was returned to Libya by state flight because “national security was at stake.” So now the government is openly admitting that the culprit is indeed very dangerous (after all, there are hundreds of testimonies from his victims).
So there is not only the plainly nonsensical approach of setting him free where he can continue to commit his crimes, instead of having him tried at The Hague. There is also the explicit admission that one of Italy's partners in the pact with the Libyan gangs that since the Gentiloni government has served to keep migrants off Italian shores and inside torture cells is a known and recognized criminal.
If Meloni were to take her own words seriously, she should immediately cancel those shameful deals. And stop granting impunity and subsidies to torturers.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/il-caso-e-tratto-ma-solo-davanti-alle-telecamere on 2025-01-29