By Crispian Balmer
ROME, April 28 (Reuters) – Italian magistrates said on Tuesday they had opened urgent checks into whether Nicole Minetti, an ally of late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, lied to secure a presidential pardon for a conviction over a sex-party scandal.
The case has embarrassed both President Sergio Mattarella and the Justice Ministry, raising questions over how far authorities checked the humanitarian claims behind the clemency award, which was initially kept secret.
Minetti has denied falsifying her application, but Mattarella has taken the highly unusual step of publicly urging the ministry to review the case after a newspaper questioned key parts of her appeal.
Minetti, a former dental hygienist and showgirl, was sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail in 2019 for procuring sex workers for Berlusconi’s raunchy “bunga bunga” parties. Two years later she was given an additional 13-month sentence for misuse of public funds.
ALLEGED INCONSISTENCIES IN PARDON REQUEST
As the cumulative term was under four years, she avoided having to go to prison, but was due to carry out community service. However, she appealed for a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds, saying the poor health of her adopted child meant she could not leave his side.
After months of review, this pardon was granted in February but only leaked in the Italian press this month.
Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper subsequently reported alleged inconsistencies in Minetti’s case and raised questions over the adoption of the child with serious health problems – a key element in the request for clemency.
Minetti’s lawyers had said the child was an orphan from Uruguay, but Il Fatto said it had found court documents saying the boy’s parents had been alive at the time of the adoption in 2023, and had tried to prevent it going ahead.
Il Fatto Quotidiano also questioned whether the child needed the sort of constant medical attention that meant his adopted mother could not serve her sentence.
The Milan prosecutor general’s office said it had launched inquiries through Interpol into the “very serious” allegations reported by the press, and was seeking information from abroad.
Italian newspapers reported that when magistrates reviewed the initial plea for clemency, they did not ask for confirmation from Uruguay about the various details provided by Minetti.
When the checks are completed, the Milan magistrates said they could revise their original recommendation for a pardon.
In Italy, presidential pardons are formally granted by the head of state but are based on dossiers prepared by the Justice Ministry, whose opinion is influential but not binding.
Opposition politicians have called for the resignation of Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, who recommended clemency in Minetti’s case.
(Reporting by Crispian BalmerEditing by Gareth Jones)
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