Palermo mayor alleges spying during election campaign

Last Updated: March 7, 2024

Explain briefly the following article: Lt. Pasquale Striano of the Financial Guard conducted research in databases, including one involving current Mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, about a month before his election on May 19, 2022, during the electoral campaign. The mayor was among the 800 politicians and VIPs improperly checked, and in a statement, he said that “the investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office of Perugia, if confirmed, paints a very serious and unsettling picture that risks trampling on the pillars of democracy in which I firmly believe and on which the rule of law is based.” He called for a thorough investigation by the appropriate authorities and expressed confidence in the judiciary’s ability to clarify the situation. Lagalla also questioned whether this was the reckless initiative of an unfaithful individual or a larger plot to delegitimize innocent figures through malicious media schemes. He found it suspicious that information about him was accessed during the mayoral campaign, coinciding with hostile attacks from specific news outlets.