The Chamber locks down Delmastro's chats: a brawl erupts in the chamber amid protests, accusations, and a clash over the memory of Scalfaro and Borsellino.

Rome – Parliament has chosen to oppose the barrier of Article 68 of the Constitution. In a secret ballot, the Chamber of Deputies approved, with 206 votes in favor and 133 against, the proposal put forward by the Authorizations Committee to deny the Prosecutor's Office access to the chat files contained in the phone of Fratelli d'Italia MP and former Undersecretary of Justice, Andrea Delmastro.

The decision comes at the end of a session marked by ongoing tensions and a bitter political clash, destined to further fuel the controversy surrounding the legal case involving the ruling party representative.

The measure concerns conversations between Delmastro and Pasquale Caroccia, a former member of the Penitentiary Police, which magistrates believe could be potentially useful to the investigation.

The Delmastro case and the chat issue

The Chamber's vote represents one of the most delicate moments in the case involving Delmastro, who was already at the center of the proceedings that culminated in his conviction on appeal for revealing official secrets in the case of confidential information on the anarchist prisoner Alfredo Cospito.

According to the majority, the Prosecutor's Office's request concerns parliamentary communications protected by the guarantees set forth in Article 68 of the Constitution. The opposition, however, argues that Parliament prevented investigators from acquiring relevant investigative evidence, transforming parliamentary prerogatives into a tool for political protection.
Pittalis: "We defend the Constitution, we don't hinder the judiciary."

The debate was opened by the majority rapporteur in the Authorization Committee, Pietro Pittalis, who defended the decision to deny the project.

According to Pittalis, denying access to the conversations does not hinder the investigation, but rather ensures respect for Parliament's constitutional prerogatives.

The Forza Italia representative rejected the accusation of wanting to build a "shield" for Delmastro, calling this interpretation "inconsistent and dangerous," also recalling that the Five Star Movement had previously defended parliamentary guarantees in similar cases.

Protests in the Chamber: cell phones raised, MPs blindfolded, and the session suspended

The outcome of the vote immediately sparked protests from the opposition.
Five Star Movement MPs left their seats and marched to the majority benches, raising their cell phones and shouting "Chat chats out!" While parliamentarians from the Green and Left Alliances blindfolded themselves as a symbolic gesture against what they call a "choice of opaqueness."

The chamber was filled with shouts, chants, and protests, forcing the presiding judge, Anna Ascani, to temporarily suspend the session to restore order.

Bignami's words ignite the debate

But the most tense moment came during the vote declaration by the leader of the Brothers of Italy party, Galeazzo Bignami, who had anticipated a speech that was bound to spark controversy.

Addressing the opposition benches, Bignami evoked the figure of Paolo Borsellino, arguing that it was a "defeat" for the Italian Social Movement to have failed to have the magistrate elected President of the Republic in 1992.

Subsequently, the FdI group leader made serious accusations against former President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, stating that he had "freed 300 mafiosi" in relation to the events that followed the 41-bis season in the early 1990s.

The statements provoked an immediate outcry from the opposition benches, with shouts, protests, and constant calls from the Vice President of the Chamber, Anna Ascani, who urged Bignami to maintain the respect due to an emeritus President of the Republic.

The opposition's attack

The opposition called Bignami's remarks a serious historical falsification. The Democratic Party, through Andrea Casu, called for sanctions for an intervention deemed incompatible with respect for the institutions.

The Five Star Movement, led by Alfonso Colucci, called it a veritable "contempt for the institutions," while Marco Grimaldi of the Alliance of the Greens and the Left invoked Article 60 of the Chamber's Rules of Procedure, demanding disciplinary action against the leader of the Brothers of Italy group.

Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein also spoke out harshly, emphasizing that Paolo Borsellino's memory "belongs to the entire country" and cannot be used as a tool for political opposition.

Bonelli: "Parliament transformed into a shield"

Even harsher was the comment from AVS MP Angelo Bonelli, who accused the majority of preventing the judiciary from ascertaining the truth.

According to Bonelli, the Brothers of Italy party first limited access to documents and then blocked the acquisition of the chats, turning Parliament into a "shield" for Delmastro. Hence the formal request for Bignami's suspension for his statements directed at Scalfaro.

A vote destined to leave its mark

The Delmastro case has now transcended the strictly judicial level and taken on an increasingly marked political and institutional dimension.

On the one hand, the majority claims the protection of the constitutional prerogatives provided for by Article 68, maintaining that no parliamentarian can see their guarantees compromised without the approval of the Chamber.
On the other hand, the opposition speaks of a dangerous precedent, accusing the center-right of using parliamentary immunity as a tool to limit the judiciary's investigative activity.

The controversy that arose after the vote and Galeazzo Bignami's statements now threatens to extend the conflict well beyond the Chamber of Deputies, fueling a confrontation destined to become intertwined with the debate on the relationship between politics, justice, and institutions.