Cecilia Sala is in good health, she is in a cell alone, unlike Alessia Piperno .
Antonio Tajani reported this to the Senate, questioned about the case of the Italian journalist arrested in Tehran : "The government - he explains - has been working to bring her back to Italy since the day she was stopped. We are working in collaboration with the Presidency of the Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our embassy in Tehran and the consulate. Cecilia Sala has already spoken twice with her parents, yesterday she received a half-hour consular visit from our ambassador. Now she will receive basic necessities through the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on delivery from our embassy ."
"We work in perfect harmony with the family and ask, like Cecilia's family, discretion and confidentiality for a negotiation that must be diplomatic and must be done in the best way to guarantee the safety and return to Italy of the journalist", continues the Foreign Minister.
Tajani is not committing himself on the timing : « I hope that it will be short but it does not depend on us , we are trying to resolve a complicated issue and in the meantime to ensure that Sala is detained in the best possible conditions, that he can receive consular visits, speak with his family».
On the treatment of the prisoner : «It seems to me that it is, as the ambassador saw, dignified, respectful of the dignity of the person, we will continue to verify but at the moment we have not had any negative signals, on the contrary ». Obviously Tajani specifies, «she is a prisoner so it is not an ideal condition, but she is fed and is in a single cell so as not to be with other people who do not speak English or Italian. I would not speak of isolation ».
The charges against the journalist are not yet known : "We do not have them because the lawyer has not yet had the opportunity to visit her in prison. We hope he can do so in the present day."
As for the hypothesis of a sort of blackmail by Tehran for an Iranian wanted in the US and arrested in Malpensa, Tajani cuts it short: « There is no point in making conspiracy theories, the important thing is that he returns home as soon as possible thanks to the work of diplomacy ».
The case, a note from Palazzo Chigi says, has been followed with "constant attention" also by Giorgia Meloni since the day of her arrest, December 19. The prime minister "is in close contact with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, and with Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, in order to bring the Italian journalist home as soon as possible. In agreement with her parents, this objective is being pursued by activating all possible dialogues and with the necessary caution, which we hope will continue to be observed by the Italian media as well."
(Unioneonline/L)