Italian President Seeks Clarification on Pardon Granted to Berlusconi Associate Nicole Minetti

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella has requested urgent clarification from the justice ministry following reports that a woman close to late ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may have obtained an official pardon on false preteses. Nicole Minetti, who was convicted of facilitating prostitution in connection with the notorious "bunga bunga" parties at Berlusconi's villa over 15 years ago, as well as embezzlement, was quietly granted presidential clemency in February. But the case has now exploded into the headlines after an investigation by Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper raised doubts over the pardon, which was granted on "extraordinary" humanitarian grounds following advice from the justice ministry. Milan prosecutors said on Tuesday that Interpol had been approached as part of an investigation into allegations of false declarations surrounding the pardon. The developing scandal comes at an awkward moment for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose government is struggling to recover ground after losing an important recent referendum on judicial reform. In a statement to Ansa news agency, issued through her lawyer, she said the newspaper's claims about her pardon request were "unfounded and seriously damaging to my personal and family reputation". Described here as a TV "showgirl", Minetti is also a qualified dental hygienist who in 2009 treated Berlusconi after he was physically attacked at a Milan rally. The following year, the then prime minister nominated her for election in Lombardy as a regional councillor for his People of Freedom party (PDL). Shortly afterwards, Berlusconi sent Minetti to a Milan police station to pick up a teenager named Karima El Mahroug who had been arrested on suspicion of stealing. The teenager was released after Berlusconi called to claim she was the niece of the Egyptian president. In fact the girl was Moroccan, better known as Ruby, and a performer and dancer at parties at his villa near Milan where she was first brought as a 17-year-old. In 2013, Berlusconi was found guilty of paying for sex with "Ruby", who always denied it, and the ruling was later quashed on appeal. But the next month Minetti herself was convicted of procuring prostitutes for the sex parties. She was also convicted of fraud over the disappearance of a large amount of public funds and sentenced to a total of 3 years and 11 months. It was approved primarily because Minetti and her partner were caring for a child they had adopted in Uruguay with serious health problems. Il Fatto Quotidiano has since uncovered what it says are irregularities in the adoption process and misleading information submitted in the case for pardon. The paper alleges that Minetti described the child she adopted as being abandoned at birth, although court papers show both parents are still alive, but destitute. The paper also reports that the couple took the boy to the United States for treatment after medical consultations in Italy, but there appears to be no record of those consultations. Opposition MPs are calling on the justice minister to "leave before causing further damage", after dragging the country's head of state into a scandal: in Italy, the president does not probe cases for clemency but relies on guidance from prosecutors and the ministry.