Prosecutors had placed Mr Conte and 18 others under investigationProsecutors in the northern city of Bergamo, the epicentre of the 2020 outbreak of COVID in Italy, had placed Mr Conte, Mr Speranza and 17 other people, under investigation for manslaughter and mishandling the epidemic.
The three judges of the ministerial court in the northern city of Brescia wrote in their ruling that the delays and omissions alleged by prosecutors concerned administrative managers and could not be blamed on a health minister. "It was therefore a political decision not subject to judicial scrutiny," the judges said in their ruling."I am very relieved by this decision. I really did everything I could in those terrible days to defend the health of Italians," he said in a statement.
The association of COVID victims' relatives said they were disappointed and bitter, calling the court ruling "a slap in the face for us and for the whole of Italy".