Anna Maria Cancellieri tells parliament she did not pull any strings to win release of family friend from jail
Italy's justice minister survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday after insisting she did not abuse her position to win the release of a family friend from jail.
Anna Maria Cancellieri has been under pressure to resign following revelations that she called court officials to tell them the friend, Giulia Lingresti, was in ill health. Cancellieri also acknowledges calling Lingresti's companion to express sympathy after her arrest for alleged false accounting.
Cancellieri has said she regrets the phone calls, but told parliament before Wednesday's vote that she had not pulled strings to win Lingresti's release. "There was no undue zeal or anomalies," she said.
Cancellieri survived the vote by 405-154. She has the backing of the president, Giorgio Napolitano, and the prime minister, Enrico Letta, who sought to ensure centre-left MPs' support of Cancellieri by linking the confidence vote to the survival of his government.
The motion was brought by the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement founded by the former comic Beppe Grillo, and had divided Letta's Democratic party.
Ligresti is the daughter of Salvatore Ligresti, an insurance magnate who is under house arrest on charges of false accounting and market manipulation. Cancellieri is a long-time friend of the Ligresti family.
Cancellieri said she called prison officials on 19 August, about a month after Giulia Lingresti was placed in pre-trial custody, to pass along information about the woman's health. But, Cancellieri said, "the situation was already known to the judges and the penitentiary officials". Ligresti was released to house arrest on 28 August.
Turin prosecutors have said they will not investigate Cancellieri for any wrongdoing.
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