Meloni's secretary denies ordering wiretapping of journalists, MPs
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A former Italian PM suggests the allegation "is the result of what has been going around for months in certain circles."
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Italy, on December 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet secretary, Alfredo Mantovano, denied on Wednesday allegations that he had authorized the wiretapping of journalists and politicians.
"Since this government took office, I have never authorised... any form of wiretapping against politicians or journalists," Mantovano claimed in a statement.
This followed the publication of a book by journalists Luigi Bisignani and Paolo Madron titled "The Powerful in Giorgia's Time," which touched on the plots, power plays, and pacts made in the corridors of the Italian government.
In their book, Bisignani and Madron alleged that Meloni was "apparently told" before she took power that "various personalities" -- over 400 people -- were being wiretapped, according to the Repubblica daily.
On Tuesday, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi indicated that the book was describing "preventative wiretapping", which he told the Repubblica can be done by secret services only if national security is at risk.
Renzi suggested that the allegation "is the result of what has been going around for months in certain circles," as per the Repubblica.
"And that is that there are journalists or politicians intercepted -- without the constitutional guarantees of an investigation, but by the secret services," the former PM added.
He called on Mantovano to "deny clearly" that politicians or reporters had been wiretapped.
Meloni's cabinet secretary, Mantovano, pointed out that prosecutors would look into whether or not to launch an investigation over the allegations.
He added that he was ready to provide "any useful information" to the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic, which oversees the intelligence services.
Read more: Meloni far-right gov under fire over interference in state broadcaster
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