ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Speaking in an interview with state television broadcaster RAI, Meloni said Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, and “I think” also Roberto Cingolani, the head of defense group Leonardo.
“I don’t believe there is another case like this in the world or in history,” Meloni said.
She did not elaborate on who had brought the case against her and her ministers.
Italy has seen a string of demonstrations over the last week, bringing hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets to protest against the mass killings in Gaza, with many protesters also taking aim at Meloni.
Her right-wing government, generally a staunch supporter of Israel, has distanced itself recently from what it calls its “disproportionate” offensive in Gaza, but has not severed any commercial or diplomatic links, or recognized the state of Palestine.
The Israeli assault on Gaza began after gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages according to Israeli tallies, in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel’s response has killed more than 67,000 people, Gaza health officials say.
Israel denies accusations of genocide.
Meloni said she was “amazed” by the accusation of complicity in genocide because “anyone who knows the situation is aware that Italy has not authorized new, let’s say, arms supply to Israel after October 7.”
In response to her remarks, a Leonardo spokesperson said Cingolani had already expressed the company’s position in an interview with daily Corriere della Sera last month when he said the suggestion that it was complicit in genocide was “a very serious frame-up.”
In other remarks, Meloni said she believed that US President Donald Trump had come to the conclusion that Russia was not interested in a peace deal with Ukraine.
“In the face of this refusal by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin ... the only way forward is to apply pressure, continue to support Ukraine, and to impose sanctions,” she said.
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Italy’s Meloni says she has been denounced to ICC for complicity in genocide
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Italy’s Meloni says she has been denounced to ICC for complicity in genocide
- “I don’t believe there is another case like this in the world or in history,” Meloni said.
- She did not elaborate on who had brought the case against her and her ministers
Pardoned Honduran ex-president praises Trump
WASHINGTON: The recently freed former president of Honduras praised US President Donald Trump Wednesday for opening “a lot of people’s eyes in Honduras” by supporting conservative presidential candidate Nasry Asfura.
Juan Orlando Hernandez was freed from serving a 45-year sentence in a US prison after receiving a presidential pardon from Trump, and he is presumed to be staying at an unknown location.
“The Honduran people sent a clear message. Overwhelmingly, they rejected the failed ideology of the radical left, the socialism coming from Venezuela,” Hernandez said in an interview with far-right broadcaster One America News (OAN).
“But we have to understand that they have a playbook. You know, every single election I won, even before the day of the election, the radical left also would say, ‘if we don’t win, we are not going to recognize the results.’“
Trump-backed businessman Asfura has a razor-thin lead in the presidential election over TV personality Salvador Nasralla — also a conservative — but votes are still being counted amid claims of interference.
Suspicions of fraud have been fueled by successive computer failures that have stalled tallying.
The ruling party in Honduras, led by leftist president Xiomara Castro, has rejected the provisional results giving Asfura a slim lead.
The left maintains Trump’s support of Asfura and his pardon of Hernandez amounted to electoral interference.
Extradited by Honduras to face charges in the United States and convicted of drug trafficking, the former leader insists it was all a setup carried out by the previous presidential administration of Joe Biden because his policies were too conservative.
Hernandez did not reveal his plans or whether he plans to seek asylum in the United States.
“My priority right now is how I can reunite with my family. I haven’t seen them in four years,” he said.
Asked whether he would be willing to seek asylum in Israel, where he forged strong ties by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, Hernandez said it would be “a very complicated move, and I don’t have any financial support to do that.”
In Honduras, the current government’s prosecutor’s office has reopened the arrest warrant facing Hernandez.
“Isn’t that a clear example of political persecution? What I’m going to do right now, I’m working with my lawyers,” he said.
Hernandez added that if he returns to Honduras he will not only face the “political charges, but also there are some documents from the FBI and other US agencies that say there are people who want to target my life and my family.”
Juan Orlando Hernandez was freed from serving a 45-year sentence in a US prison after receiving a presidential pardon from Trump, and he is presumed to be staying at an unknown location.
“The Honduran people sent a clear message. Overwhelmingly, they rejected the failed ideology of the radical left, the socialism coming from Venezuela,” Hernandez said in an interview with far-right broadcaster One America News (OAN).
“But we have to understand that they have a playbook. You know, every single election I won, even before the day of the election, the radical left also would say, ‘if we don’t win, we are not going to recognize the results.’“
Trump-backed businessman Asfura has a razor-thin lead in the presidential election over TV personality Salvador Nasralla — also a conservative — but votes are still being counted amid claims of interference.
Suspicions of fraud have been fueled by successive computer failures that have stalled tallying.
The ruling party in Honduras, led by leftist president Xiomara Castro, has rejected the provisional results giving Asfura a slim lead.
The left maintains Trump’s support of Asfura and his pardon of Hernandez amounted to electoral interference.
Extradited by Honduras to face charges in the United States and convicted of drug trafficking, the former leader insists it was all a setup carried out by the previous presidential administration of Joe Biden because his policies were too conservative.
Hernandez did not reveal his plans or whether he plans to seek asylum in the United States.
“My priority right now is how I can reunite with my family. I haven’t seen them in four years,” he said.
Asked whether he would be willing to seek asylum in Israel, where he forged strong ties by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, Hernandez said it would be “a very complicated move, and I don’t have any financial support to do that.”
In Honduras, the current government’s prosecutor’s office has reopened the arrest warrant facing Hernandez.
“Isn’t that a clear example of political persecution? What I’m going to do right now, I’m working with my lawyers,” he said.
Hernandez added that if he returns to Honduras he will not only face the “political charges, but also there are some documents from the FBI and other US agencies that say there are people who want to target my life and my family.”
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