ROME - Any decision by state broadcaster Rai to possibly suspend or replace Sigfrido Ranucci would be political and tainted by falsehoods about the investigative journalist whose home was bombed by a controversial friend and former Berlusconi pimping and graft associate in October, Ranucci's lawyer said Wednesday.
The friend, Valter Lavitola, has said he regrets the trouble he caused Ranucci by staging the bomb attack, allegedly to help get the journalist's security escort boosted, calling Ranucci a "brother".
Businessman, ex journalist and restaurateur Lavitola has admitted organising the attack but claimed he only wanted the gang allegedly coordinated by his Cameroonian go-between to let off a few rounds at the residence at Pomezia south of Rome, and not plant a bomb that destroyed Ranucci's and his daughter's cars and might have killed her.
Government members, led by right-wing League leader, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, have called for Ranucci to be suspended by Rai over his allegedly murky relationship with Lavitola.
Right-wing politicians have also slammed the reporter for comparing himself to late Italian civic heroes and terror and Cosa Nostra martyrs like Aldo Moro, Piersanti Mattarella, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in a post last week in which he said Italy killed "all its best" in order to stop and silence them.
Critics have also said Ranucci has failed to criticise Lavitola for the attack.
Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) has also called on centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein to apologise for alleg edly suggesting the government might have been linked to the attack, immediately after it happened.
Ranucci presents Report, an exposè programme that has frequently irked politicians, mostly on the right of the political spectrum, and which has been often sued by them without much success.
Ranucci's lawyer Roberto De Vita said Wednesday: "Any initiative Rai were to take at this time regarding Sigfrido Ranucci, and therefore the Report program, would inevitably be tainted by falsehoods that, despite the clear and unequivocal position of the judicial authorities regarding the victim and his unawareness, have been incessantly fueled by specious controversies, even within the company."
De Vita said that Rai was considering pulling the plug on his client for "incompatibility" and added: "Any further justification would be subject to the already expressed conditioning indications of government and institutional leaders, placing Rai's initiatives towards the host and the programme within the sphere of political decision-making." Right-wing politicians and commentators have suggested Ranucci knew about the attack, a claim prosecutors have not echoed.
The prosecutors have said the attack was meant by Lavitola to boost his friend's standing in view of a possible entry into politics, from which Lavitola also hoped to benefit.
Lavitola has denied this.
Lavitola has been at the centre of many top political and business corruption stories over the years.
These include: a Monte Carlo house whose purchase sank former Silvio Berlusconi protegé Gianfranco Fini's political career; the alleged buying and selling of Senators by Berlusconi to try to bring down a centre-left government led by ex European Commission president Romano Prodi; the attempted extortion of Berlusconi over a ring of escorts at his 'elegant dinners'; kickbacks for contracts in Panama; and scams involving publishing funds.
Ranucci said Tuesday night that it was up to Rai to suspend or replace him.
He also said it was not up to parliamentary anti-mafia commission chair Chiara Colosimo, a member of Meloni's FdI party, to decide on the size of his escort after she said it should be cut.
Ranucci already had a two-strong escort before the attack, and afterwards it was boosted to six.
Conservative daily Libero reported that the state broadcaster had decided to suspend the journalist pending the result of the investigation into the bombing.
Also , Ranucci said he was suing Rome appeals court magistrate Clementina Forleo over a post on Sunday in which she said: "Who is blackmailing Ranucci? Why does he want to stay at the helm of Report (a public service broadcast) at all costs by threatening to expose chats with "everyone"? And who are the "everyone" he's talking about?" Forleo responded by saying she was only commenting on news that had been published in the media and not denied.
Ranucci's predecessor as long-time host of Report, Milena Gabanelli, said she had no interest in returning to her former post.
Gabanelli, like several other former Rai journalists, has since moved to left-leaning TV broadcaster L7.
The Italian opposition has claimed Meloni has taken over Rai, calling it 'TeleMeloni'.
From ANSA
