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Charity seeks inquiry of Italy’s handling of Covid-19 ‘for those who died unnecessarily’

Italy should urgently launch a public inquiry into its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the human rights group Amnesty International rights group said Friday, as lawmakers in Rome dithered over the issue.

Medical workers attend a mass on outside the Tor Vergata hospital in Rome on December 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus.
Medical workers attend a mass on outside the Tor Vergata hospital in Rome on December 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

One of the first countries to be hit by the pandemic, Italy has registered over 131,000 deaths since the first domestic cases were spotted in the north in February 2020.

“It is vital that the Italian parliament approves an independent inquiry so that lessons can be learned, similar mistakes can be prevented and justice can be provided to those people who died unnecessarily and those who were wrongly dismissed,” said Debora Del Pistoia, researcher at Amnesty International Italy.

READ ALSO: Italy’s WHO whistle-blower: ‘I don’t want this swept under the carpet’

Her remarks came as Amnesty released a report claiming  staff in Italian hospitals and care homes who raised concerns about their working conditions during the pandemic were silenced or punished.

Medical workers in protective gear react at the end of their shift in an intensive care unit treating COVID-19 patients at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome on April 20, 2020.

Medical workers in protective gear react at the end of their shift in an intensive care unit treating COVID-19 patients at the San Filippo Neri hospital in Rome on April 20, 2020. Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

Italy’s Covid response has been under scrutiny on several other fronts.

Prosecutors in Bergamo, an early epicentre of the pandemic, have questioned top government officials over claims that the province was not properly quarantined at the start of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the families of more than 500 victims of coronavirus have sued former premier Giuseppe Conte, current Health Minister Roberto Speranza and Lombardy regional chief Attilio Fontana seeking 100 million euros in damages.

READ ALSO: ‘Here is the Italy that has suffered’: Bergamo holds requiem for coronavirus dead

There are also concerns about possible waste and corruption, with a former coronavirus crisis commissioner, Domenico Arcuri, under investigation for embezzlement and abuse of office related to the purchase of face masks from China.

A nurse carries Covid-19 vaccination shots at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital, in Turin, Northwestern Italy, on December 27, 2020.

A nurse carries Covid-19 vaccination shots at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital, in Turin, Northwestern Italy, on December 27, 2020. Marco Bertorello / AFP

Several parties, including the opposition far-right Brothers of Italy and the centrist Italy Alive (IV), which is part of Mario Draghi’s national unity government, have called for parliament to investigate the pandemic.

But IV lawmaker Lisa Noja told AFP a consensus has emerged among other political forces to limit an inquiry to the pandemic’s alleged origins in China, excluding Italy’s response to it.

READ ALSO: ‘We want truth and justice’: Families of Italy’s coronavirus victims file complaint

In July, two parliamentary committees agreed to restrict the investigation to events leading up to January 30, 2020, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global emergency, Noja said.

The full house of the lower chamber still needs to vote on the proposal. A debate was scheduled for this week, but  postponed, and it is unclear when the matter will be taken up again.

“I don’t think they (the other parties) think it’s in anyone’s interest to discuss this in the house,” Noja said.

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EU

Italy’s Meloni hopes EU ‘understands message’ from voters

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she hoped the European Union would understand the "message" sent by voters in last weekend's elections, after far-right parties such as hers made gains.

Italy's Meloni hopes EU 'understands message' from voters

Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which performed particularly well in the vote, urged the EU to “understand the message that has come from European citizens”.

“Because if we want to draw lessons from the vote that everything was fine, I fear it would be a slightly distorted reading,” she told a press conference at the end of a G7 summit in Puglia.

“European citizens are calling for pragmatism, they are calling for an approach that is much less ideological on several major issues,” she said.

Meloni’s right-wing government coalition has vehemently opposed the European Green Deal and wants a harder stance on migration.

“Citizens vote for a reason. It seems to me that a message has arrived, and it has arrived clearly,” she said.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the top jobs, including whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will get a second term.

Von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party strengthened its grip with the vote, but her reconfirmation is not yet in the bag.

The 65-year-old conservative was in Puglia for the G7 and likely used the summit to put her case to the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.

But Meloni refused to be drawn on whom she is backing.

“We will have a meeting on Monday, we’ll see,” she told journalists.

“We will also see what the evaluations will be on the other top roles,” she said.

Italian political watchers say Meloni is expected to back von der Leyen, but is unlikely to confirm that openly until Rome locks in a deal on commissioner jobs.

“What interests me is that… Italy is recognised for the role it deserves,” she said.

“I will then make my assessments.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani indicated that it was unlikely any decision would be made before the French elections on June 30 and July 7.

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