A Rome court on Thursday sentenced Justice Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro to a suspended eight-month term for revealing classified information regarding jailed anarchist Alfredo Cospito.
The undersecretary, a member of Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, was found guilty of leaking information about the Cospito case to his flatmate and fellow FdI member Giovanni Donzelli. Donzelli, a member of the Copasir parliamentary committee that oversees Italy’s intelligence services, subsequently disclosed it in parliament.
Prosecutors had requested at the preliminary hearings stage that the case be shelved. A judge rejected this and ordered them to present an indictment request.
In January 2023, Donzelli told parliament that Cospito, who was on hunger strike at the time to protest against the 41 bis jail regime, had talked to mafia bosses about getting the treatment abolished.
The jail regime is usually reserved for mafiosi.
Donzelli also revealed that four lawmakers from the centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) had visited Cospito. Cospito is serving a combined 30-year sentence for the Fossano bombing, in which two Carabinieri were injured, and for kneecapping a nuclear company executive in 2012.
During the debate, Donzelli asked whether the PD was on the side of the State or that of the mafia and terrorists, sparking indignation from the opposition.
Delmastro claims it’s a ‘political sentence’
Delmastro later said that the PD lawmakers had given in to Cospito’s demand that they meet other prisoners held under the 41 bis, including two mafia bosses, as a condition for the encounter.
After the verdict, Delmastro said he would not resign and hoped to be acquitted on appeal. “A political sentence! Sentences are not commented on, but political ones speak for themselves! And this sentence speaks for itself!” Delmastro said on social media.
“After the prosecution asked for acquittal three times, here comes a sentence of condemnation based on nothing! Do they want to say that the reforms must stop? They have the wrong address! Do they want to say that the Democratic Party is untouchable? They have the wrong address.
I did not betray my ideals: I defended harsh prison for terrorists and mafiosi.
I did not betray! And the Italians know it! I anxiously await the reasons for appealing and seeking a judge in Berlin. And from tomorrow onwards with the reforms to deliver a different justice to our children.”
Delmastro supported by Meloni and Nordio
Premier Giorgia Meloni said the sentence was shocking. She also said Delmastro would remain in his post despite opposition calls for his resignation.
“I am shocked by the conviction of Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro, for whom the public prosecutor had initially requested archiving and subsequently acquittal. I wonder if the judgment is really based on the merit of the matter.
Undersecretary Delmastro remains in his position,” she said.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said he was disoriented and saddened by Delmastro’s conviction.
“I am disoriented and saddened by a conviction that affects one of my dearest and most capable collaborators. I trust in a radical reform of the case during the appeal and I renew my total and unconditional trust in my friend Andrea Delmastro,” said Nordio.
“We will continue to work together for the indispensable and urgent justice reforms,” he added. He was referring to the government’s plans to separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors so they can no longer switch between the two.
