President Meloni’s letter to the Corriere della Sera newspaper regarding the case of convicted anarchist Alfredo Cospito

Dear Director,
for several days now, members of the opposition and media representatives have been accusing me of reticence regarding the heated debate in the Chamber of Deputies about Alfredo Cospito, involving, among others, Honourable MP Donzelli and Undersecretary Delmastro.
Italian journalists asked me about this matter yesterday during my press conference with Chancellor Scholz in Berlin, in front of the world’s media, clearly less interested in the negotiations I was conducting in Italy’s interest ahead of the upcoming special European Council meeting. 
I said I would reply and that is what I am doing now. I wish to state that I have not commented on this until now because I was trying not to fuel a debate that I consider to be counterproductive for everyone.  
I shall explain why. Firstly: the debate has certainly become too heated, and I invite everyone, starting with members of Fratelli d’Italia [Brothers of Italy], to return to a frank but respectful discussion.
I nevertheless do not think there are any grounds for the resignations that some have called for. Moreover, the information contained in the documentation that is the subject of the dispute, which the Ministry of Justice has confirmed as not being classified, has actually been disclosed by certain media organisations.
In my view, there are clearly some instrumental aspects to this uproar.
I find it peculiar that there can be outrage about non-classified documents being discussed in Parliament, when for years now private conversations (which are certainly not to be disclosed) have often been made public.
I find the indignation of the PD [Democratic Party], with a certainly excessive accusation, peculiar; in the past, when I was leader of the opposition, the Left accused me of being “the moral instigator of deaths at sea”, or of leading a “subversive party”, to name but a few examples. That is without forgetting the time when institutional representatives shouted, amid applause, that we should “spit blood”.
I find it paradoxical that left-wing parties cannot be held to account for their choices, when the controversy over the last few days objectively originates from high-level representatives of the Democratic Party visiting Cospito at a time when the prisoner was increasing efforts to communicate with the outside world, as can be seen in the notes by the judicial authority that has expressed its view on this matter, which have been disclosed by the media. What strikes me even more than that visit is the fact that, according to what the press have reported, after acknowledging Alfredo Cospito’s relationship with Mafia bosses sentenced to the hard prison regime, and being well aware that it is in the Mafia’s interest for Article 41-bis [governing the hard prison regime for those convicted of certain crimes] to be challenged, very authoritative representatives of the PD have continued to ask for said regime to be withdrawn for Cospito, pretending not to understand the implications that such a decision would have, above all for the fight against organised crime.
Having said that, I believe the point is another. While the majority and the opposition squabble over this matter, tensions around us are dangerously and rapidly building, with no one being spared, as we saw during the protests at Rome’s La Sapienza university yesterday, which called the President of the Republic and members of various governments “murderers”, regardless of their political colour.
While some continue to think that this matter can be used to attack the government or the opposition, yesterday it became necessary to assign a police escort to Honourable MP Donzelli and to Undersecretaries Delmastro and Ostellari, and threats against Italian institutions are being made all over, in Italy and abroad.
It is clear that we are not just facing one of the many debates that stir up the world of politics, but rather a situation with decidedly disturbing aspects that risks having serious consequences; a scenario that requires prudence and caution, and that must see all components of the State united, at all levels, in defending legality. 
I am making this appeal to everyone, to politicians, journalists and opinion formers alike, because, tomorrow, we must not look back and discover that, not understanding the seriousness of what was happening, we ended up all being responsible for an escalation that could lead us anywhere.

[Courtesy translation]