Giusi Bartolozzi, Chief of Cabinet at Italy’s Ministry of Justice, has been formally registered as a suspect by Rome prosecutors, according to sources. The investigation is part of the proceedings concerning the case of Osama Njeem Almasri, the Libyan commander who was arrested and subsequently repatriated from Italy last January.
This development follows last month’s request from the Ministers’ Tribunal to the Chamber of Deputies for authorization to proceed against Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio in the same matter.
The prosecutors are reportedly investigating the crime under Article 371-bis of the Italian penal code. This statute punishes “anyone who, during criminal proceedings and when requested by the public prosecutor or the International Criminal Court prosecutor to provide information for investigative purposes, makes false statements or withholds, in whole or in part, what they know about the facts on which they are being heard.” The offense carries a prison sentence of up to four years.
Testimonies and court documents suggest Bartolozzi played a significant role in managing the dossier that began when The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Almasri. She is alleged to have been central to the subsequent exchange of communications within the ministry between January 19th, the day of the Libyan general’s arrest, and January 21st, the date of his repatriation.
The news of her status as a suspect coincided with two high-level meetings held at the ministry. Bartolozzi first met with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio. She then attended a pre-scheduled meeting with two undersecretaries, which was reportedly concerning other matters. Sources within the ministry indicate that Minister Nordio’s position regarding the investigation remains one of circling the wagons around his Chief of Cabinet, a stance he had already hinted at in recent weeks.
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