Italian police on Tuesday arrested four people suspected of carrying out an October bomb attack targeting journalist Sigfrido Ranucci in Pomezia, about 12 miles south of Rome.
The blast in a residential neighborhood destroyed two cars belonging to Ranucci; he had just returned home at the time, and his daughter had walked by a half-hour before, his employer said. Video shot by Ranucci showed the mangled remains of the cars and the gate. He has been under police protection since 2021 and hosts the investigative program "Report" on the Rai 3 public TV station.
The Carabinieri said the four suspects detained near Naples were "strongly suspected... of the offences of possessing, carrying and using explosive devices in a public place, of making threats and causing damage, with aggravating circumstances due to having acted in a group of more than five people and using mafia-style methods." Three have been placed in pre-trial detention and the fourth is under house arrest.
The anti-mafia prosecutor's office in Rome is handling the probe, which the Carabinieri called "particularly complex" and said involved close examination of video surveillance systems and phone records, as well as scientific analysis of the explosive device. The statement said the bomb team are believed to have acted on orders from "third parties, who have not yet been identified," and that "the masterminds tried to provide support to protect the alleged perpetrators, supplying them with funds, dedicated phone cards, legal assistance, and planning their possible escape abroad."
The explosion occurred on the eighth anniversary of the car bomb slaying of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who wrote extensively about suspected corruption in political and business circles and, like Ranucci, had faced dozens of libel suits intended to silence her reporting. Ranucci told the ANSA news agency the day after the attack that he had received "an endless list of threats." The campaign group Reporters Without Borders says Italy ranks 56th in the world for press freedom. Report posted a video on social media Tuesday showing the suspects being arrested and wrote, "The investigation continues to reach the masterminds."