However, Melillo also said “the extreme complexity of correctly and rigorously managing the databases collecting that and other no less sensitive information in order to repress crimes must be underscored”.
The National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor asked to be heard by the parliamentary commission in relation to an investigation by prosecutors in Perugia into alleged dossiers compiled by a tax police officer against many top politicians, mostly on the right, and VIPs including rapper Fedez and football legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
Perugia Chief Prosecutor Raffaele Cantone is to be heard by the same committee on Thursday morning.
“I asked to be heard so that the facts and issues can be properly grasped and to ward off the danger of misinformation, speculation and instrumental readings of events concerning delicate state functions,” continued Melillo.
“To say nothing of the outbursts of disordered polemics that seem to aim not at analysing reality and contributing to its understanding and to the advancement of the balances within the system, but at undermining the image of the office and delegitimising the idea of neutral institutions such as the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor’s Office and perhaps even the Bank of Italy,” he added.
Prosecutors believe that some of the data allegedly obtained was used for journalistic purposes, while other data may have been passed on to a private investigator or used for personal gains.
A number of journalists are among 14 people under investigation in relation to the case.
However, Melillo told the parliamentary anti-mafia commission he thought it unlikely the accused officer had acted alone.
“I believe there are many elements that conflict with the idea of an action conceived and organised by a single, supposedly unfaithful officer,” he said.
“One of the central points of Perugia prosecutors will be to understand [the accused] and [their] system of relations,” he added.
ANSA
