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16 May 2019The prosecutor's office of the Lazio Court of Auditors led by Andrea Lupi has opened a file on the matter. The investigation entrusted to the magistrate Bruno Domenico Tridico, the Court has made known, was opened yesterday following the investigation of the Republic and has the objective to verify if the Minister of the Interior has traveled on planes and helicopters of the State Police to the outside of strictly institutional purposes. For now it is an "exploratory file".

In practice, the Court will verify whether law enforcement agencies have also been used for non-institutional purposes such as travel for electoral rallies of the League leader. This is - according to the Court of Auditors - a usual procedure already activated in the past as in the case of former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. In that case the procedure started for a complaint of the 5-star Movement in relation to a trip to Courmayeur with the family for holidays. The charges in that case were dismissed.

Salvini: no abuse. Flights for institutional commitments
"No abuse, no irregularities, no State or Police flights to make speeches but always for institutional commitments. I challenge anyone to prove the contrary", Matteo Salvini replies.

Police: Salvini used planes for 19 routes. The minister has the right to use them
The Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, "in the eleven-month stay at the Interior Ministry, used state police aircraft for 19 routes, for an average duration of one hour, which refer to 10 days". The Department of Public Security makes it clear, recalling that "to the Minister of the Interior, by normative disposition, is assigned the first level of protection that gives the right to the use of state aircraft as all the subjects subjected to the same level of security ".

The Department also states that "the cost of one hour flight is 1,415 euros in total, of which 315 euros are fuel costs and 1100 euros for maintenance and part of these hours refer to exercise packages for which 'plane, beyond the specific use, however, must necessarily be moved ".

The 5 Star Movement asks for clarifications
"It is a strange matter, also because if it is true that the Court of Auditors has opened an 'exploratory' file to ascertain whether it has traveled on police airplanes and helicopters outside strictly institutional purposes, then it means that a small shadow from "Clarify it. It's good that Salvini does it. And we're sure he will." This is underlined by authoritative sources of the M5S at Ansa.