Italian prosecutors seek political funding trial for Renzi
Prosecutors in Florence have requested trial indictment for former Italian Premier Matteo Renzi for alleged illegal political party funding
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Prosecutors in Florence on Wednesday requested trial indictment for former Italian Premier Matteo Renzi for alleged illegal political party funding.
Renzi denied any wrongdoing and in a tweet said he has filed a complaint with prosecutors in another region in Italy alleging that the Florence magistrates have abused their power during their years-long investigation of him.
A former Democratic Party leader who served as Italy's premier from 2014-16, Renzi is now a senator who leads a small centrist party in Parliament He alleges that the magistrates have been targeting him for years as they investigated funding of a foundation backing Renzi.
An initial hearing on the indictment request has been set for April.
Also being investigated by Florence prosecutors are two former government ministers close to Renzi.
Renzi quit as premier in 2016 after he staked his continuing in the office on winning a referendum on proposed constitutional reforms that he had championed. Voters resoundingly rejected the reforms. He later broke with the Democrat Party and founded Italia Viva, which is one of the smaller parties in Premier Mario Draghi s pandemic unity coalition that includes political parties across the spectrum.
In a separate case, Italy's central bank recently signaled possibly suspicious financial transactions that were paid to an account held by Renzi, Corriere della Sera reported last week. Some 1.1 million euros ($1.25 million) had been paid for what Renzi has described as legitimate consultancy services provided to Saudi Arabia, the newspaper said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.