When the justice system protects the biggest criminals

Carlo Nordio, the “protector” of for high level criminals. Foto: © Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union / Julien Nizet / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.0

(KL) – Italy is currently divided. On the one hand, several prominent public prosecutors are fighting against the Mafia, which has the entire country in its grip with its various organizations; on the other hand, politicians are trying to protect “il sistema”, this informal association of politicians, magistrates, captains of industry and organized crime. In order to protect the impunity of high-ranking criminals in public office, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio has now simply abolished the criminal offence of “abuse of office”. The European Commission will have to react.

“Il sistema” is Italy’s biggest problem and it affects an incredible number of politicians of all colors, magistrates, the heads of large state-owned companies and, of course, the various branches of the Mafia, i.e. the ‘Ndragheta, the Camorra and the Cosa Nostra. Together, these players enrich themselves with public funds, corruption is the order of the day and the members of “il sistema” put enormous effort into creating a respectable façade. However, more and more Italians are seeing through this system of the rich and powerful and would like to dismantle these highly criminal structures.

The European Union will have to react, because the abolition of “abuse of office” is not only a free pass for corrupt politicians and magistrates, but also a violation of the European treaties, which the next justice commissioner cannot let pass, unless Italy manages to fill this post itself in the next term of office.

The audacity of the Meloni government, which, like all post-fascists, likes to pretend to be close to the people, is unbelievable. To effectively allow high-ranking and corrupt criminals to do as they please in a country that is already suffering from its criminal structures is incomprehensible. Such a “judicial reform”, which was criticized and prevented for months (the parliament was actually supposed to vote on it in September 2023, which was postponed due to the many protests), is a sign that the Meloni government is just as affected by Italy’s countless scandals as the previous governments.

As soon as the new Commission is in office, it must intervene and open proceedings against Italy. Similar proceedings have also been opened against Poland and Hungary and there is no reason not to do the same against Italy, where those involved in “il sistema” are enriching themselves in the worst possible way and thus depriving Italians of their livelihood. It will be interesting to see what Carlo Nordio comes up with next – a license for mafiosi to kill their opponents? Italy is on its way to becoming a criminal banana republic and the EU must put a stop to it.