(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 28 - Claims by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto that elements within the judiciary are forming "judicial opposition" to Premier Giorgia Meloni's government are a "very serious" accusation, Italian magistrates union ANM President Giuseppe Santalucia said on Tuesday.
    "'Judicial opposition' is an unacceptable term at a constitutional level. We are not a party that opposes the government," Santalucia told on Sky Tg 24.
    In an interview to Corriere della Sera published on Sunday Crosetto said he had "heard about meetings of a faction within the judiciary in which they talk about how to 'stop the anti-democratic drift Meloni is leading us to'".
    "Since we have seen all sorts of things in the past, if I know this country, I expect this season to open soon, before the European elections," said Crosetto, a member of Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
    Meanwhile, the parliamentary anti-mafia committee on Tuesday turned down a request from the left-wing opposition Democratic Party (PD) to schedule a hearing with the minister on the contents of the interview on grounds this does not fall within its remit. (ANSA).