Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on Friday called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry into a case in which an allegedly rogue police officer accessed the anti-mafia database to compile dossiers on Italian public figures including many right wing politicians and some showbiz and sports figures too in a case Perugia prosecutor Raffaele Cantone said saw "monstrous" numbers of files gathered.
Nordio said he had had a meeting Thursday with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, one of the politicians allegedly snooped on bytax police officer Pasquale Striano, and said: ""I believe that at this point we can and must reflect on the need to set up a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry with investigative powers to analyze once and for all this deviation (rogue operations, ed.), which had already proven to be extremely serious at the time of the Palamara (magistrates) scandal and which has now become even more serious, precisely because of Cantone's words"
Cantone said Thursday the snooping had not stopped with Striano while national anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo said it was unlikely Striano had acted alone.
Deputy
Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier on Friday reiterated calls to identify who was behind the actions of Striano while he was serving at the National Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Department.
"I do not believe that a non-commissioned finance police officer was the coordinator of this entire snooping operation," Tajanitold Mattino 5.
"He may have been used by someone who gave him orders.
We need to identify the cupola: was it a person, a group, and for whatpurposes?" he added.
"Pasquale Striano worked in close contact with the NationalAnti-mafia Prosecutor's Department, with the former ProsecutorCafiero de Raho, he conducted numerous investigations for him ," continued Tajani of the finance police officer at the center of the probe by prosecutors in Perugia.
"We need to understand who gave him the orders and for what purposes sensitive information was used.
"Was (the information)perhaps also intended to be a gift to the press, or could ithave been used by foreign services," concluded the minister.
The case has become a political issue, in part because many of the public figures snooped on are on the right of the political spectrum, with the victims demanding to know if Straiano was following orders from above.
The finance police officer is alleged to have illegally accessed the data of figures including Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party bigwig Crosetto, Business Minister AdolfoUrso (also FdI), Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida (also FdI), Labor Minister Marina Elvira Calderone, Environmentand Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, EducationMinister Giuseppe Valditara, Silvio Berlusconi's former partnerand MP Marta Fascina, ex-premiers Giuseppe Conte (and hispartner Olivia Paladino) and Matteo Renzi, rapper and TVpersonality Fedez, soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventuscoach Massimiliano Allegri, Confindustria business group chiefCarlo Bonomi and League leader Matteo Salvini's girlfriendFrancesca Verdini.
He allegedly did this via abuse of the so-called 'SOS' system, which enables officials to rummage through the information stored on databases of individuals if the authorities receive a report of a suspect financial operation by them.
Cantone, a former national anti-mafia prosecutor, told the Parliamentary Anti-mafia Commission on Thursday that the "market' for illegal access to State databases did not stop with the Striano scandal.
"The suspicious operation reports (SOSs) market has not stopped at all, " Cantone told the commission.
"We have resounding proof: in the first leak (of information about the probe), a reference came out to an SOS regarding a businessman who reportedly had dealings with the defense minister and that SOS had not been seen by Striano.
"So someone was continuing to sell SOSs under the counter".
Cantone said leaks to the press about the developments in the probe were "damaging the investigation", saying he did not know where the leaks were coming form.
He added that it is "necessary to restore truth and protect the Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Department".
National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Melillo reported to the commission on the case on Wednesday and said he thought it unexpectedly Striano had acted alone.
"I believe there are many elements that conflict with the idea of an action conceived and organized by a single, supposedly unfaithful officer," he said.
"One of the central points of Perugia prosecutors will be tounderstand Striano's person and system of relations," he added.
Prosecutors believe that some of the data allegedly obtained by Striano was used for journalistic purposes, while other data may have been passed on to a private investigator or used by Striano for personal purposes.
A number of journalists are among 14 people under investigation in relation to the case.
Cantone also told the Anti-Mafia Commission that his office would examine the dossier Striano compiled on funding of the League party during the allegedly illegal snooping.
"The activity (by Striano) on the League's funds will be among the subjects of further examination," he said.
The League expressed alarm about the creation of the dossier on Thursday.
"A dossier on the financing of the League ended up in the drawers of the DNA (National Anti-Mafia Directorate), which had no jurisdiction on this, and it was not sent to any district attorney's office," it said in a statement.
"Why was that information collected and kept? In the midst of the spy scandal, the mystery of this dossier it is yet another disturbing piece of news.
"For years the League has been subjected to a defamatory campaign (about its funding) which has been dismantled in courtafter years of mud-slinging and ruined lives.
"The spy scandal confirms that it is a real attack on democracy.
"We will do everything to get to the bottom of it".
Cantone and Melillo on Thursday also reported to the parliamentary intelligence service oversight committee COPASIR.
Leaving the hearing, Cantone said " I said what I thought was right, the hearing has been classified".
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