According to the newspaper, the WHO on May 13 published on its website a report, written by WHO scientist Francesco Zambon and 10 other European experts, that claimed Italy's pandemic preparedness plans had not been updated since 2006.
The newspaper first discovered in August that the report had been taken down within one day of being published, and Zambon told The Guardian that he was being prevented from giving testimony to prosecutors.
"When I received the first summons I reported it to the WHO’s legal office and soon after they responded saying I couldn’t go as I was protected by immunity, despite the fact that I wanted to go as I had something to say," Zambon said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Ranieri Guerra, the WHO's assistant director-general for strategic initiatives, stands accused of ordering the removal of the controversial report, as investigators in Italy examine the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper said.
Zambon was cited by the newspaper as saying that Guerra threatened him with job dismissal unless the report was modified to remove text alleging that the Italian Health Ministry's pandemic preparedness documents had not been updated for 14 years.
"The team thoroughly checked this and found that all the plans that came after 2006 were just copied and pasted – not a word or comma was changed in the text," the WHO scientist told the newspaper.
Italy has the highest COVID-19 death toll of any country in mainland Europe, as more than 62,000 people have died due to complications from the disease.
Prosecutors in Lombardy province, which was Italy's epicenter of the pandemic during the first wave of COVID-19 this past spring, have been investigating whether there are grounds for filing criminal negligence charges against the authorities.