ROME, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella has resigned after his wife, Sandra Lonardo, was accused of extortion.
The New York Times said Lonardo, a politician in the Campania region, was placed under house arrest as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in a local healthcare system.
Mastella said his wife is innocent and said the measure calling for house arrest was a ''violent and unjust attack," ANSA reported.
Mastella is head of the Catholic Udeur party, part of the center-left alliance underpinning the government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Prodi holds only a one-seat majority in the Senate.
Mastella said he would use his crucial three seats in that body largely to support Prodi, even if outside the coalition, The New York Times said.
