Brussels – Heavy accusations against the government, as façade solidarity crumbles in the face of relentless persecution. Sigfrido Ranucci, journalist and host of Report, the target of a bomb attack last 16 October, raises his voice. And he does so from the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “While politics gives solidarity on the one hand, on the other it is arming the Authorities, such as the Privacy Authority, to punish Report and give an exemplary signal,” denounced Ranucci.
Two days after the speech on the occasion of the journalism prize dedicated to Daphne Caruana Galizia, Ranucci was invited by Sandro Ruotolo, MEP of the Democratic Party, to a press conference in the EU hemicycle. Among others, the event was also attended by Nicola Zingaretti, leader of the Dem delegation, and Gaetano Pedullà, MEP of the 5 Star Movement. Connected remotely, the journalist appealed to the European Data Protection Supervisor: “I ask him to check how the Italian Privacy Authority is working these days, because it is an emanation of the government.”
A frontal attack on an independent administrative body, for which Ranucci takes responsibility. “I am saying this with good reason, and we will see in the coming hours,” he continued. The reference is to the fine that the Authority is reportedly ready to impose on the investigative programme for the audio recordings made by Maria Rosaria Boccia at the time of her relationship with the then Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, which came into Report’s possession and were broadcast on Rai 3.
In the afternoon, the Authority’s response to the “extremely serious statements made” by Ranucci arrived. In a note, the Authority reiterated “the absolute independence and transparency of its work in defence of legality” and added that it “reserves every necessary initiative for its own protection.”
Ranucci, in his speech, pointed out that “half the government” had already sued the programme, and recalled that the RAI supervisory commission “is blocked at the behest of the government majority.” Ruotolo asked the government to accompany the solidarity shown to Ranucci with the withdrawal of all reckless lawsuits against journalists. And to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who “accuses the opposition of casting shadows and mud on Italy,” he rolled out the worrying data on press freedom in the Belpaese. “The first European country for threats to journalists,” rising by “76 per cent in the first months of 2025.” “Downgraded from 46th to 49th place for press freedom” by Reporters sans frontières. Although Meloni, in the Senate, said that with her government, it had risen from 58th to 49th place. She was incorrect because those numbers referred to previous years.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
