The highly publicized "bunga bunga" scandal of the late former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has returned to the center of the country's political debate, causing serious upheaval in the Ministry of Justice of Giorgia Meloni's government.
In the spotlight is the case of the presidential pardon of Nicole Minetti, a former dental assistant and close associate of Berlusconi, who was convicted for her role in recruiting women for the infamous parties at the Villa Certosa in Sardinia.
Italy's Justice Ministry has repeatedly found itself at the center of crises in recent months, but the Minetti case is now turning into a serious political and institutional headache for the government.
Minetti was granted a presidential pardon earlier this year on humanitarian grounds, arguing that he had to care for a sick child. However, the justification for the decision has sparked fierce reactions, with the opposition calling on Meloni to dismiss Justice Minister Carlo Nordio.
The Italian Prime Minister, however, has publicly supported her minister.
"I have confidence in Nordio," she said, ruling out "any possibility of resignation."
The office of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who formally approved the pardon in February, has asked the Justice Ministry for urgent clarifications after concerns about possible irregularities in the evidence used to support the request. Italian authorities have already asked Interpol for help in investigating the case.
An investigation by the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano examined the circumstances surrounding the Minetti case, including speculation that some of the documents submitted to secure the pardon were incomplete or incorrect.
Minetti (pictured below), whom Berlusconi had brought out of obscurity by appointing her to the Milan city council, became a central figure in the long legal case surrounding the former prime minister's parties, including the trial over his affair with an underage nightclub dancer known as "Ruby the Heartbreaker."
After years of legal battles, Minetti was sentenced to prison for prostitution and embezzlement. In the years that followed, she settled in Uruguay with a new partner, an heir to the wealthy Cipriani family, and filed a request for clemency on humanitarian grounds, arguing that her adopted son needed specialized hospital care.
The Justice Ministry accepted the argument, after initially requesting a review of the information and a legal opinion from the Milan prosecutor general. The ministry then approved the request and forwarded the file to Mattarella's office, which gave final approval.
However, the political cost of the decision is rapidly rising, as Italian media now dispute the claim that Minetti's child was abandoned at birth.
She denies all the allegations, calling them “baseless and damaging accusations.” Her lawyer, Emanuele Fisicaro, told Politico that “the court documents refute all the allegations made in the media.”
Government officials insist that the decision was based solely on the evidence available at the time of the assessment.
"Berlusconi is persecuting Meloni"
For Meloni, who has linked her political image to discipline and stability, the disintegration at the Justice Ministry threatens to damage that image and bring back memories of the Berlusconi era, according to Daniele Albertazzi, a professor of politics at the University of Surrey.
"With this scandal, Berlusconi is coming back to haunt Meloni," he said.
He said Meloni is continuing to defend Nordio because dismissing such a prominent former prosecutor “would be a clear admission of failure” and would offer a clear political victory to the opposition.
"She's trying to portray the issue as something relatively minor and shift the blame. But the problems are one after the other," he said, adding: "I don't know if she'll be able to save him for much longer."
For Meloni, the main question now is how much more political damage her government can withstand in the run-up to next year's elections, with Berlusconi's heavy political legacy coming back to the fore.
