Prosecutors investigating allegations
Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa's son raped a young woman after
a night at a Milan night club in May have seized the
21-year-old's mobile telephone.
Investigators did not seize the SIM card of Leonardo Apache La
Russa's phone as it is registered in the name of his father's
law firm.
As a result they would have needed the permission of the Senate
to impound the SIM card too.
On Friday La Russa senior's office expressed faith in the work
being done by Milan prosecutors, while saying media coverage of
the case had gone too far. Among other things, a statement said
photos of another of his son's had been published by newspapers
and on social media under the name of Leonardo.
At the end of this week's NATO summit, Premier Giorgia Meloni
distanced herself from a previous statement in which La Russa
defended his son and called into question the alleged victim's
version of events on grounds she had taken cocaine.
"As a mother I can understand the suffering of the Senate
speaker, although I would not have intervened on the merits of
the issue," Meloni told reporters.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
