Italian anti-mafia police investigate after journalist's car explodes

Italy's anti-mafia police are investigating after a car belonging to a leading journalist exploded outside his house.

The blast took place on Thursday and targeted Sigfrido Ranucci, the lead anchor of Report, which is broadcast by state-run RAI.

The bomb, which was so powerful it reportedly could have killed anyone walking by, destroyed his car, damaged another family car that was next to it and mangled the gates of his home in Pomezia, a town south of Rome.

The explosion came on the eighth anniversary of the murder of Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist killed by a car bomb after writing extensively about suspected corruption in political and business circles.

Mr Ranucci had recently returned to his house when the blast took place while his daughter had walked past the car half an hour before, Report said in a statement.

The programme said firefighters, forensic crews and magistrates from Rome's anti-mafia police division were looking into the explosion.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her solidarity with Mr Ranucci and condemned "the serious act of intimidation he has suffered".

She said: "Freedom and independence of information are essential values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend."

Speaking outside RAI's offices, Mr Ranucci said the bombing would not stop his colleagues' work because they were used to reporting under difficult conditions.

He said: "Whoever thinks they can condition the work of Report by doing something like this will get the opposite effect. The only thing this does is maybe makes us waste some time."

The explosion was an "escalation" of two years of threats directed against him, Mr Ranucci claimed.

In comments published by Report, he added: "There have certainly been a series of incidents of intimidation, which I have always reported. There is definitely a general climate of isolation and delegitimisation toward me and the entire editorial staff of Report from an editorial point of view."

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He said the attack was likely related to Report's investigations into links between powerful mafia groups including the Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta, far-right crime groups and previous high-profile killings.

Mr Ranucci, who has been sued multiple times for defamation, has been living under police protection for years.

The International Federation of Journalists said: "We strongly condemn the attempted murder of a journalist, which constitutes a direct assault on media freedom, and urgently call for a thorough investigation to ensure that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice."

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