Land of liberated laity (5)

I believe the answer is:

italy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'land' is the definition.
(I know that Italy is European country)

'liberated laity' is the wordplay.
'laity' can be anagrammed to 'ITALY'.
However, I am not clear how the anagram is indicated.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for italy that I've seen before include "Land for laity, oddly" , "Latin country" , "Land for strange laity" , "South European country" , "where Juventus normally play" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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