Ranucci: "No to withdrawing the complaints, I'll win on the pitch."
"I don't want them to drop the complaints against me. I want to win on the pitch, not because of the absence of players. But I would like a politician to pay if he reports a journalist, knowing that what the journalist said is true. And pay dearly." Eight days after the attack in Pomezia, where a bomb exploded under his home, Sigfrido Ranucci addressed the assembly of the National Association of Magistrates. He rejected the proposal to drop the complaints against him—a proposal launched by Francesco Storace, supported by Campo Largo but not by FdI—but also reopened the debate on the need to pass "the law on frivolous litigation." He reiterated this demand later, while speaking to the CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour) rally, which embraced him with applause in solidarity.
"We must fight for freedom of the press and for the passage of the law on frivolous litigation and lawsuits that seek to muzzle us journalists, and this means preventing you from being informed, from making informed choices. We must all commit ourselves to defending the right to be informed: we cannot allow anyone, with their choices, to make us unhappy," the journalist emphasizes. The right to be informed, he urges, means addressing precarious employment, lack of medical care, workplace safety, and rights, "revealing what happens in the shadowy areas, in the hidden centers that stifle democracy and prevent us from continuing to cultivate memory, which seek to erase us with initiatives that are consigning us to state oblivion."
These principles will also guide the new season of Report, which begins tomorrow in prime time on Rai3. Giorgio Mottola's investigation, "Little Trumps Grow Up," takes center stage. The thread harks back to last March, when Prime Minister Meloni criticized the Ventotene Manifesto: what seemed like an impromptu intervention—according to Report—is part of a deliberate strategy to delegitimize European institutions, involving European foundations, think tanks, and sovereignist think tanks, under the direction of the most powerful American conservative organization: the Heritage Foundation. To export Donald Trump's values and vision of democracy to Europe, 12 of the most influential American conservative think tanks have increased the flow of funds to Europe by 200% over the past five years, for a total of nearly €100 million, and have significantly increased their lobbying efforts within European institutions.
As Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, revealed to Report, the ultimate goal would be the dissolution of the EU. And this scenario, he theorizes, would also include Meloni and the foundations linked to the Brothers of Italy.
Then there's Luca Bertazzoni's investigation "A noi." Starting with the case of Beatrice Venezi, appointed musical director of La Fenice in Venice amid protests and the orchestral strike, Report traces the major appointments in key positions in the world of culture, from Ales, the ministry's in-house company, to cinema, theaters, festivals, and from the MIC itself to Cinecittà. Finally, the "Lab Report" section focuses on the Porcini Mushroom Festival in Lariano, which has been involving national politicians and mobilizing public funds for several years. The Ministry of Agriculture is in the spotlight.
But there's also anticipation surrounding Ranucci's response to the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la Privacy), following the dispute over the €150,000 fine imposed by the Authority on RAI for broadcasting, on December 8, 2024, an audio recording of former Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano and his wife Federica Corsini, regarding the affair involving Maria Rosaria Boccia. This fine has been in the journalist's sights even before it was made official: "Someone is arming the Italian Data Protection Authority to punish Report and set an example for other broadcasts," Ranucci accused during a live broadcast with the European Parliament. The Authority calls these "extremely serious allegations," and is ready to take "any action necessary to protect its dignity."
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