Rome’s former mayor gets six years in jail for corruption

A former mayor of Rome was sentenced to six years in prison Monday for his part in the infiltration of organised crime into the capital, and immediately vowed to appeal.

Published: 25 February 2019 15:25 CET

Rome's former mayor gets six years in jail for corruption

Gianni Alemanno served as Rome mayor from 2008 to 2013. Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

“I'm innocent, I have always said it and I will repeat it before the judges on appeal,” said Gianni Alemanno, mayor of the city from 2008 to 2013, who was convicted of corruption.

He and his legal team will launch an appeal as soon as they have read the ruling, Alemanno told reporters.

In the 2015 Mafia Capitale scandal, investigators uncovered a vast network of influence-peddling taking in criminals, businessmen and politicians. In all, prosecutors sent 46 defendants for trial.

They accused Alemanno of having received more than 200,000 euros from various sources in return for appointing a key figure in the scandal to a senior post.

Prosecutors said he also directed city funds to a cooperative run by another figure in the network of corruption.

The head of the network was Massimo Carminati, a former far-right activist already convicted of membership of a criminal gang in the capital in the 1980s.

According to the indictment, his right-hand man was Salvatore Buzzi, the head of a cooperative that worked for the Rome city council. Buzzi served as an intermediary between the political world and the criminal network run by Carminati.

Both men were convicted on appeal in a separate trial in September 2018. Carminati was sentenced to 14 and a half years in jail; Buzzi to 18 years and four months.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.