Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi told a press conference Wednesday she had acted "in good faith" in two appointments for which she may face trial and "I will explain my motives to the magistrates". She said her 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Beppe Grillo had "urged me to carry on".
Raggi risks indictment on charges of making false statements and abuse of office after Rome prosecutors on Tuesday wound up a probe into the appointments case.
Raggi is suspected of abuse of office in appointing Salvatore Romeo head of her political secretariat and of fraud in appointing city tourism chief Renato Marra, brother of Raffaele, the former city personnel chief, who has been arrested over alleged corruption.
Rome prosecutors also asked judges to shelve an abuse of office case against Raggi in the appointment of her former cabinet chief Carla Raineri, judicial sources said.
They said the appointment of Raineri, who quit after a month, was not legitimate and not in line with rulings from the Audit Court, but did not constitute grounds for criminal proceedings.
Raggi denies wrongdoing in all cases and has said she will carry on even if she is indicted.
Raggi, who became Rome's first woman mayor in a landslide a year ago, is being backed by M5S head, comedian Beppe Grillo.
Earlier, summing up her year in office, Raggi said "we're not giving up, thank you to the Romans for their patience".
She said she was "proud" of her heavily criticised twelve months, saying that a "radical change" had been made with respect to past administrations of the centre left and centre right.
As well as a slew of appointments woes, Raggi has been criticised for allegedly failing to clear rubbish, repair pot-holed streets and improve public transport.
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