Premier Matteo Renzi on Tuesday
denied allegation by a leading judge that too often, the Italian
state penalizes magistrates while coddling the corrupt.
"That is a false and unfair statement," said Renzi, adding
that such comments undermine confidence in the system.
He spoke after National Magistrates Association (ANM) chief
Rodolfo Sabelli said that too often in Italy, the state has not
stood behind judicial forces.
Sabelli said that a well-functioning state "should slap the
corrupt and caress those who exercise control over legality".
But, added Sabelli, too often "in Italy the opposite has
occurred".
Sabelli said in a television interview with RAI public
broadcaster that for a long period in Italy, governments
undermined the judiciary and rewrote laws to downgrade the
severity of many crimes.
And he urged the government to now "spread a culture of
legality" across Italy.
New measures introduced Monday by Renzi in an
anti-corruption bill would once again make false accounting,
financial market fraud, and similar corporate offenses criminal
matters subject to stiff prison terms.
Under the former government of ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi, those crimes had been downgraded to non-felony
offences with significantly lighter penalties.
Sabelli's comments came after police revealed a massive
graft probe into public contracts for everything from the TAV
high-speed rail project to Milan Expo, which all allegedly
involved a former top manager at the infrastructure ministry led
by Minister Maurizio Lupi.
The minister, whose New Center Right (NCD) party is a
junior ruling coalition member, said Tuesday he is not
contemplating stepping down after some opposition parties filed
a no-confidence motion against him.
Published wiretaps from the graft probe appear to indicate
a close connection between Lupi and the so-called 'boss' of
public-works graft, former manager and now consultant Ercole
Incalza.
Incalza, a public-works honcho for seven governments who
now works as a consultant, was among four arrested including
businessmen Stefano Perotti and Francesco Cavallo, as well as
Incalza's aide Sandro Pacella, in a probe that saw more than 50
people including politicians placed under investigation for
suspected kickbacks that inflated costs by as much as 40%.
Lupi's son was allegedly hired by an engineer, Giorgio Mor,
at Perotti's behest in what a judge said was a favour that might
have been reciprocated in some way.
The indirect hiring of Luca Lupi by Perotti may have been
part of "an illicit quid pro quo" by the minister, the judge
said in papers on the case.
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