The Facts
Italian prosecutors from Bergamo, a city in the Lombardy province worst hit during the first wave of COVID, are investigating former PM Giuseppe Conte, former health minister Roberto Speranza, and 17 others under suspicion of "aggravated culpable epidemic" and manslaughter related to their pandemic response.
The accusations into Conte, who was prime minister from 2018 to 2021 before heading the populist Five Star Movement party, wrap up prosecutors' three-year inquiry into Italy's pandemic response, alleging he underestimated the virus' contagiousness.
The Spin
Narrative A
Italy's relaxed regional and national COVID responses may very well have led to thousands of excess deaths in the early days of the pandemic. For the good of the victims' families, their communities, and the nation as a whole, this prosecution must go forward, and the officials at fault should be held accountable.
Narrative B
Faced with an unprecedented pandemic, Conte was tasked with containing the virus and protecting the fragile economy without infringing on fundamental liberties, but still faced accusations of draconian COVID measures. In a puzzling change of course, he's now being investigated for not going far enough. Considering the political division in the country from mid-2020 through 2021 — and that still exists today — it would be foolish not to wonder if subsequent prosecutions are politically motivated.
