A small ray of light

Saturday, 04 July 2009 12:35 What politicians do

The President of the Republic Napolitano summoned the Minister of Justice Alfano for a dialogue about the decree on wiretapping. The President pointed out how the law would be dangerous, because it prevents the judiciary to investigate effectively against the mafia and in all cases where the perpetrator of a crime is unknown. Infringes the freedom of the press because it prevents journalists to talk about wiretapping, including summarizing them, while other proofs of a trial could be summarized.

Unconstitutional because it does not make sense that the rule applies only to future trials, resulting in a difference with the trials still going on. The observations of the President are a direct exhortation to amend the law after harsh protests by journalists and judges against a decree seen by many as a direct attack to justice and press freedom. Without amendments, the President of the Republic has made clear that it could not approve it.

A substantial change is likely that wiretapping will be possible not only with "clear evidence of guilt" but even with "obvious signs of crime". But another controversial aspect of the law, also criticized by the guarantor of privacy, is the jail up to one year for journalists who publish wiretapping. Such a law would put Italy on the same level of countries where press freedom is very limited and journalists are arrested all the time.
The Italian journalists have proclaimed a July 13 strike (newspapers will not be sold on 14) and on internet there is the proposal to extend the protest to bloggers, who may be affected by another aspect of the law, the compulsory rectification within 48 hours. Now, the Berlusconi government seems willing to make some small step back, worried for the decision of the Constitutional Court on the Lodo Alfano, the law that blocks the trials against the high office of the state and that in this period in particular blocks Mills trial. The initiative of President Napolitano shows that in Italy resists a few bastions of law and reason, but it's all to be seen whether and how the decree on wiretapping will be changed.

Parts of this law which constitute a direct attack on the judiciary and press freedom are many, let us not forget also the prohibition on mentioning the names of the judges involved in an investigation. But above all, the political motivation behind the wiretapping decree can be only one: to defend the political class from the Italian judicial and press investigations. It's a law without a trace of public interest and should be withdrawn. Hardly some amendments may be sufficient.
They might be enough to save justice, but not press freedom.

Francesco Defferrari

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