Sicily Governor Rosario Crocetta
told the Sicilian regional assembly (ARS) he would not quit over
a controversial wiretap whose existence has been disputed.
"I refuse to offer my flesh to hungry
executioners...everyone knows that wiretap does not exist," he
said.
Crocetta suspended himself after a reputable news weekly
published the tap in which he allegedly said nothing when his
doctor Matteo Turino, probed in a hospital graft case, said
Sicily health councillor Lucia Borsellino should meet the same
fate as her Cosa-Nostra slain father, anti-Mafia prosecutor
Paolo Borsellino.
Crocetta said he was the victim of a smear campaign after
prosecutor's offices said they had no such wiretap on their
files.
However the magazine, L'Espresso, stood by its story,
saying the tap had been classified.
The governor, a member of Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic
Party (PD), is suing L'Espresso for 10 million euros.
Renzi is meeting the PD's head in Sicily, Fausto Raciti,
about the case on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando said he
had ordered "preliminary checks" into the wiretap.
"I have launched a preliminary check-up as is the case
whenever there is an improper circulation of trial information,"
Orlando said.
Crocetta said later in the day that the Sicilian Mafia was
behind the smear campaign against him.
Recent criticism of his management of the region, along
with the surfacing of what he said is a doctored or non-existent
wiretap, were the work of "the real magic circle, that of
business which is in cahoots with masonry and the Mafia, which
no longer carries out massacres but is now embedded into
regional affairs", he told the Sicilian regional assembly.
The governor went on to say he will not call early
elections.
"False scoops cannot decide the fate of governments," he
said, adding that "shady powers are threatening democracy".
The PD component of the ARS said it will stand by its
governor.
"I no longer have any doubts as to that wiretap, they ended
when the Palermo prosecutor denied its existence," said PD whip
Antonello Cracolici.
"We will try and heal the wound, which I know will be
difficult".
Also on Thursday, Codacons consumer association offered the
embattled governor psychological assistance amid concerns over
his alleged suicidal thoughts.
On the day the wiretap allegations surfaced, a weeping
Crocetta went on record saying "I could have done myself in".
Three days later he claimed "someone wanted to stage a
coup, they wanted to bring about my resignation or my suicide".
"We believe these are very serious declarations that should
not be underestimated," Codacons said in a statement.
"A regional governor needs to have the strength to tackle
critical situations such as the one facing Crocetta, and he
should never, under any circumstances, consider the possibility
of suicide".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
