Searches made in case of insults against Mattarella last yr

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 11 - Italian police on Thursday carried out a number of searches on the instructions of Rome prosecutors in a probe into derogatory messages and insults received by President Sergio Mattarella on social media last spring, during the first wave of the COVID emergency, judicial sources said.
    The searches were carried out in several Italian cities, the sources said.
    The probe posits possible charges of offending the honour and prestige of the head of State.
    This is a crime under the Italian Constitution.
    Mattarella, 79, recently received plaudits for waiting his turn along with ordinary citizens for a COVID vaccination.
    He has also been praised for his handling of Italy's recent government crisis which ended with the installation of a national unity government led by former European central banker Mario Draghi. (ANSA).