Lucrezia Ciotti The safety of investigative journalists returns to the centre of public debate in Italy following the attack suffered by the presenter of Report Siegfried Ranucci in front of his home in Pomezia on October 16. The incident raised concerns about the pressure and threats that can arise from investigative reporting, highlighting the connections between politics, organized crime, and freedom of the press.
In the context of this affair, the Rome Prosecutor's Office has submitted a request for Ranucci to be heard before the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission.
Ranucci and Report, the prosecutors' urgent request after the Anti-Mafia Commission hearing.
The Rome Prosecutor's Office has the minutes were requested of the hearing of November 4th in the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission of the journalist and presenter of Report Sigfrido Ranucci, as part of the investigation into the bombing he suffered on October 16 outside his home in Pomezia.
Part of the hearing, lasting about an hour, it had been classified at the request of Ranucci himself, who had asked to turn off the microphones before answering a question from the former magistrate and M5S senator Roberto Scarpinato, relating to the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Giovanbattista Fazzolari and a possible connection between the stalking reported by the journalist and the attack he suffered.
Ranucci explained that the timing of the events is under investigation:
“I notified the escort a few minutes before departure and in the days leading up to it I had already posted on social media the topics of the Report episode, which could have aroused interest on the part of malicious individuals.”
Ranucci and the Anti-Mafia Commission hearing: political reactions and controversies over secrecy
The episode He unleashed mixed reactions between Political forcesSome parliamentarians from the Brothers of Italy party criticized the request for secrecy, speaking of "media exploitation" and questioning the relevance of the statements. On the contrary, representatives of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party defended the confidentiality requested by Ranucci, underlining the severity of the intimidation suffered by investigative journalists and requesting further investigations both in the judicial and parliamentary spheres, with the involvement of bodies such as COPASIR.
Undersecretary Fazzolari, interviewed by Corriere della Sera, he defined "grotesque” the episode and added: “If you are asked whether there is a connection between the attack and a government official, the answer should be very clear: 'No.' Ranucci, on the contrary, asked for his response to be kept secret, fueling suspicion. that that connection really existed."