PD, M5S, and AVS demand European Parliament probe into Paragon case. Casarini: “It smells like a regime”

From the Correspondent in Strasbourg – The opposition to the government of Giorgia Meloni unites in the face of the serious scandals engulfing Palazzo Chigi. They are orchestrating a double blow at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where the delegations from the Democratic Party, the 5 Star Movement, and the Green Left Alliance invited two of the citizens spied on through the Paragon Solutions Graphite spyware, Francesco Cancellato and Luca Casarini, and David Yambio, a Sudanese refugee in Italy and a victim of torture by Libyan executioner Almasri.

 At the press conference organized by the PD MEP Sandro Ruotolo, “all the opposition factions in Italy are present,” the attendees emphasized: from the PD and M5S delegation leaders, Nicola Zingaretti and Pasquale Tridico, to Benedetta Scuderi and Mimmo Lucano of the AVS. Together, they are asking the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to establish a committee of inquiry to investigate the cyber espionage case that affected 90 people and 13 European countries. “A scandal that concerns the European Union because at stake is the violation of personal data and freedom of the press,” reads the letter addressed to Metsola.

Among the seven Italians involved are Fanpage editor Francesco Cancellato and Mediterranea Saving Humans founder Luca Casarini. In contrast, Italy is among the Israeli software company’s 37 client countries. Paragon Solutions suspended at least one of the two existing contracts for violations of the agreed terms of service and ethical framework.

“This element smells very much like a regime,” the Venetian activist, who has been conducting search and rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean Sea since 2018, attacked from Strasbourg. Trying to connect the dots, according to Casarini, lies “a knot called Libya.” According to the director of Fanpage, a media outlet whose reports have nailed several members of Fratelli d’Italia to their neo-fascist roots, there is an attack on the profession. However, Cancellato tries to keep calm: “We are confident that the government intends to shed full light regarding an affair involving spying on a newspaper editor, whether the spying comes from within or from a foreign country.” However, “so far, all I have heard is a meager statement, a lot of silence, and an attack by the organizational head of Fratelli d’Italia (Giovanni Donzelli, ed.),” the Italian journalist added.

  “The idea of Giorgia Meloni spying on Casarini and Cancellato is so ridiculous that it is hard to comment,” Nicola Procaccini of Fratelli d’Italia, the same party as premier Giorgia Meloni, responded from an event organized for Remembrance Day at the European Parliament. The opposition, however, “will not give an inch,” Zingaretti warned. After filing two written questions to the European Commission, the next step is to set up a special committee in the European Parliament so that it can independently carry out an investigation parallel to those of national authorities in the countries involved. In Italy, “we will demand full clarity and transparency,” promised the Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein, who joined the press conference remotely. “Meloni cannot continue to hide and run away,” attacked the opposition leader.

Tomorrow, the Almasri case will be the spotlight in the Strasbourg hemicycle. There is a debate in the Plenary on the need to ‘protect the international justice system and its institutions, in particular the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice,’ and a new press conference organized by the Greens with Yambio after the decision of the International Criminal Court to open a file on Italy’s failure to comply with a request for cooperation in the arrest and surrender of the Libyan torturer. The feeling is that the Italian government is in danger of losing face for the first time in these two cases. The opposition has noticed and has never been so united — in Italy and Brussels.