(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - Cases of abuse in the
transcription of wire-taps "are very limited", vice president of
the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), the judiciary's
self-governing body, Giovanni Legnini said Tuesday.
"The problem is that they create a stir," Legnini added in
an interview with Repubblica.it.
His comments came after industry minister Federica Guidi
resigned at the end of last month over a wiretapped conversation
with her oil-industry boyfriend, Gianluca Gemelli, about a
government amendment to a project benefitting him in Basilicata.
Gemelli is being probed for alleged influence peddling.
Guidi is not under investigation.
"I cannot comment on an open investigation: I am not
familiar with the documents and it is up to the investigating
magistrates to judge the relevance (of some of Guidi's
conversations that subsequently appeared in the press)," Legnini
continued.
"Some phrases arouse perplexity and this is legitimate, but
a full evaluation will be made when the documents are made
public," he said.
Also on Tuesday Legnini said reform of the statute of
limitations must be a "priority" and that a government proposal
"goes in the right direction" and should be approved "as soon as
possible".
"We can't allow the outcome of investigations and first and
second instance trials to come under the axe of the statute of
limitations," he said.
Legnini is de facto head of the CSM while its titular head
is Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
Wire-tap abuses 'limited', Legnini says
Reform of statute of limitations must be a 'priority'