Overview
- Giusi Bartolozzi, chief of staff to Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, received formal notice on February 26 that the preliminary investigation against her has closed for alleged false statements to prosecutors under article 371-bis.
- The allegation concerns statements she gave to the tribunal of ministers, which found parts of her account unreliable and referred the matter to prosecutors led by Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi with deputies Giulia Guccione and Barbara Trotta.
- Such a notice typically precedes a request for indictment, though a parliamentary move to raise a conflict of attribution before the Constitutional Court would likely suspend the case.
- The probe stems from the January 2025 arrest in Turin of ICC-sought Osama Almasri, the Rome Court of Appeal’s non-validation of the arrest, and his same-day release and repatriation to Libya on a state flight.
- Nordio voiced unconditional confidence in Bartolozzi and questioned the timing of the notice, as governing-party figures echoed concerns and opposition parties defended the judiciary’s independence.