In Italy a huge scandal involves judges and left leaning journalists: they illegaly gathered information on politicians and Cristiano Ronaldo

Italy is rocked by a scandal involving journalism and the judiciary. A judge and a non-commissioned officer of the Italian financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, are under investigation by the Perugia prosecutor’s office. The charge is that they used confidential financial data collected by the Italian anti-mafia prosecutor’s office.

The judiciary allegedly then passed the information on to three journalists from the newspaper Domani, which is owned by Swiss-Italian businessman Carlo Debenedetti, who is well known in Italy for his closeness to the left-wing that expresses itself in the PD and for always wanting to influence the country’s politics.

So anti-mafia judge Antonio Laudati is under investigation in Perugia for abusive access to computer systems and databases. But also of forgery and disclosure of confidential information, along with Guardia di Finanza Marshal Pasquale Striano.

The investigation dates back to August 3, 2023, and stems from a tip from Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.

In addition to him, dossier victims include Daniela Santanchè, minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, minister,  Ignazio La Russa, president of the Italian Senate, Denis Verdini, Matteo Renzi, Carlo Bonomi, president of entrepreneurs, Francesco Totti, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Federcalcio president Gabriele Gravina. However, these are only a tiny part of the approximately 300 names on which confidential financial information was illicitly collected, almost all of them politicians in the center-right government.

There is talk of “Dossieraggio” in Italy, that is, the gathering of information to create dossiers with which to then influence politicians or carry out blackmail. This is a very serious activity that casts a gloomy light on the dirty entanglements between the judiciary, which in Italy is unelected and immovable, and journalism, which has always been at the service of power. In Italy, the independence of journalism is little more than a joke.