The Curia of Palermo prohibits a prayer vigil for the victims of homophobia, scheduled May 12 in the parish of Saint Lucia. An event organized by "Ali D'Aquila", a group of gay and lesbian Christians, during celebrations for the Pride Palermo 1, and that could count on the support of the parish priest, Don Luigi Consonni. The religious, a Comboni missionary, however, came from a stop: the archbishop of Palermo, Paolo Romeo, and Auxiliary Bishop Carmelo Cuttitta, they've ordered to withdraw the authorization for the use of the premises of the parish. A ban that was inspired by the principles contained in the Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care of homosexual persons, 1 October 1986, signed by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and providing "pastoral care" of homosexuals, with the ' assistance of physicians and psychologists.
The vigil, which commemorates the victims of homophobia in Italy and around the world, is not the first of its kind in Palermo: there were at least four more from 2007. The novelty, compared to other years, which is that of May 12 had been included in the calendar of events related to the Palermo Pride, the event organized to defend the rights of LGBT people and culminating in the parade through the streets of the historic center, 21 May. An association that the Curia has obviously not acceptable and that he wanted to reject the ban. In addition to the group of gay Christians Ali D'Aquila, the prayer service was also organized by the community of St. Francesco Saverio all'Albergheria, the Waldensian Church of La Spezia, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
"The church had given us the premises - the organizers explain Ali D'Aquila, a group born in 2009 - and frankly we are sad and outraged by this veto, which were communicated to us by Don Luigi Consonni, and even the archbishop. With our prayer we wanted to remember those who suffer because of homophobic prejudice. " Don Luigi Consonni, who arrived in the church of Saint Lucia in September last year, wanted to inform his congregation of the ban by publishing a brief note on the parish website: "The Curia of Palermo, became aware of the initiative, I urged to fully respect the rules of the Holy See paragraph 17 of document Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 1 / 10/1986. Then I was asked to cancel the prayer meeting of day 12 pv in the parish of Saint Lucia.
A document, which appeals to the Curia of Palermo, which, for gay people, even medical assistance and psychological, as required by the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Moreover, even in other locations - the United Nations - the Vatican has stood for not wanting to vote in favor of decriminalization of the crime of homosexuality, while the Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's representative to the UN, has recently expressed against the "victimization" of homosexuals, in defense of the right to "criticize unions between same sex."
Paola Concia, lesbian parliamentarian of the Democratic Party, meanwhile, asks to be able to immediately meet with the archbishop of Palermo: "His gesture is bad, inhuman. This ban is offensive to many Catholics who are homosexuals. I want to meet him and I want you to explain, looking into my eyes, because he wants to ban a wake whose purpose is, among other things, to remember those who died because of homophobia. I do not want to believe that the church hierarchy have been reduced to this. Why do not you think the true message of Jesus and the Gospel? ". Duro also the comment of Arcigay, which, of course, had encouraged and supported this moment of prayer: "We are shocked and saddened. It 's a veto to remove the suffering of innocent victims, of the same weaknesses that the Cardinal and the Church say vowed to defend without distinction. The prohibition is also an act of aggression, in its complicity with those who spread hatred and homophobia, "says Daniela Tomassino Arcigay president and spokesman for the Palermo Palermo Pride. "Banning a prayer for the victims of homophobia is just the latest of the insults that hierarchies turn to gay, lesbian and trans Italian, Paolo Patanè attacks, national president of Arcigay, which says:" The Church with which this act want to silence the victims of a daily horror show, once again, of being an accomplice and a major sponsor of aversion to the dignity of millions of people. "
Ali D'Aquila The group has however decided that, in agreement with the other movements that have joined the initiative, however, held vigils, presumably in front of the church, at 21 the same day: "We will continue to pray, even before doors that are closed. "
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Napoli -U.S. and Canada students beaten after night in the pizzeria
The group of tourists was attacked in the center. They were first blocked and surrounded by a car and some motorcycles, then beaten and robbed. The incident reported by the manager of the hostel where seven boys slept
A group of students, guests of a hostel, was attacked last night in the historical center of Naples while returning from an evening spent at a pizzeria. The boys, six American and one Canadian, were blocked and surrounded with a car and several motorcycles, beaten and robbed. The story was reported by the owner of the accommodation, John Berardi, who says: "Now is not reporting the problem. It should, instead, begin to teach children to love and to experience the beauty and importance of their city."
"These young men were returning from a pizzeria in the old town - is the story of Berardi Ansa - five boys and two girls, students at this time in Seville and Paris, who decided to choose Naples and Pompeii as a destination for their trip. They had not reckoned with unscrupulous people ... Ten or twelve criminals, just before one, surrounded them in an alley near the hostel and started beating them. " And 'the dramatic scene described the tour: "With scooters and a car blocked them first and then attacked, and two, in particular, were beaten and taken to blows, one of them while he was on the ground.
So the guys who came yesterday morning in the city, were at the mercy of "petty people, repressed, that are put on display to mark territory like a dog to pee and, meanwhile, knocked a city that could live only with tourism ...". Two of the attackers also tried, says Berardi, "background kicked the gate of the building where is the accommodation. Then, thanks to the screams of the neighbors are gone but not without having made a small raid : a 'booty' of about ninety euro, some credit cards and cell phones. "
When the young foreigners are back in the hostel were terrified faces and no desire to speak. Ice on his head, a bit 'of medicine, but the hurt inside is insane. "The guy physically bigger - while the landlord says his words in a growing sense of helplessness and anger - he hugged me and told me: 'John, it's not your fault. And I think that' class 'a' now to my guests about the dangers they may encounter in their travels. " There is no hope, then? "Look, the facts speak: In the past there were lots of complaints and alarms. And what are they served? Almost nothing. The presidium of the police - who are fighting in increasingly difficult conditions, it must be said - is often only becomes 'symbolic' in some places because they are privileged and some areas just because maybe the most populated with tourists, but there are also nearby streets that are often the scene of petty crimes.
A group of students, guests of a hostel, was attacked last night in the historical center of Naples while returning from an evening spent at a pizzeria. The boys, six American and one Canadian, were blocked and surrounded with a car and several motorcycles, beaten and robbed. The story was reported by the owner of the accommodation, John Berardi, who says: "Now is not reporting the problem. It should, instead, begin to teach children to love and to experience the beauty and importance of their city."
"These young men were returning from a pizzeria in the old town - is the story of Berardi Ansa - five boys and two girls, students at this time in Seville and Paris, who decided to choose Naples and Pompeii as a destination for their trip. They had not reckoned with unscrupulous people ... Ten or twelve criminals, just before one, surrounded them in an alley near the hostel and started beating them. " And 'the dramatic scene described the tour: "With scooters and a car blocked them first and then attacked, and two, in particular, were beaten and taken to blows, one of them while he was on the ground.
So the guys who came yesterday morning in the city, were at the mercy of "petty people, repressed, that are put on display to mark territory like a dog to pee and, meanwhile, knocked a city that could live only with tourism ...". Two of the attackers also tried, says Berardi, "background kicked the gate of the building where is the accommodation. Then, thanks to the screams of the neighbors are gone but not without having made a small raid : a 'booty' of about ninety euro, some credit cards and cell phones. "
When the young foreigners are back in the hostel were terrified faces and no desire to speak. Ice on his head, a bit 'of medicine, but the hurt inside is insane. "The guy physically bigger - while the landlord says his words in a growing sense of helplessness and anger - he hugged me and told me: 'John, it's not your fault. And I think that' class 'a' now to my guests about the dangers they may encounter in their travels. " There is no hope, then? "Look, the facts speak: In the past there were lots of complaints and alarms. And what are they served? Almost nothing. The presidium of the police - who are fighting in increasingly difficult conditions, it must be said - is often only becomes 'symbolic' in some places because they are privileged and some areas just because maybe the most populated with tourists, but there are also nearby streets that are often the scene of petty crimes.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Italy and Lybia
Suddenly it broke out the least of the riots in the Arab world, by far the most violent against the people of Libya's dictator Gaddafi. The world is witnessing a terrible spectacle: the political demonstrations of unarmed demonstrators were exterminated by military units mercenary. The United States condemns, even if the voice of the world's leading power is too weak. Europe has said that what happens in Libya violates every principle of political and human and can not be accepted by any of the member countries.
None? But Italy is linked to Libya's dictator, who is wiping out his people by a treaty which binds it to the point - it is said in Article 4 - "Italy is committed to refrain from any form of interference, direct or indirect , in the internal or external affairs affecting the jurisdiction. Italy will never use or allow the use of their territories in any hostile action against Libya. " But the Treaty - as you will recall - was voted not only all right but by the entire Democratic Party, elected with the exception of the Radicals in the lists of the PD, and two deputies of the Democratic Party, Sarubbi and writer, has in Serbian other surprises. Article 20: "The two parties undertake to develop, in the defense sector, the cooperation between their armed forces, including through the exchange of military information and a strong industrial partnership in the field of defense and military industries. But also (Article 19) "the two Parties shall encourage a system of control of land borders Libya to be entrusted to Italian companies."
In short, we are accomplices. We are bound by a "close partnership" with a country that was and is no guarantee of respect for human rights.
It is urgent duty of the Italian Parliament has ratified almost unanimous agreement that the Treaty was already easily recognizable as a shameful act immediately to suspend him. We will begin our report with the sentence pronounced by Berlusconi, while demonstrators in Benghazi were wiped out with weapons and perhaps Italian media: "Do not ask me to act now. I can not disturb Gaddafi ".
None? But Italy is linked to Libya's dictator, who is wiping out his people by a treaty which binds it to the point - it is said in Article 4 - "Italy is committed to refrain from any form of interference, direct or indirect , in the internal or external affairs affecting the jurisdiction. Italy will never use or allow the use of their territories in any hostile action against Libya. " But the Treaty - as you will recall - was voted not only all right but by the entire Democratic Party, elected with the exception of the Radicals in the lists of the PD, and two deputies of the Democratic Party, Sarubbi and writer, has in Serbian other surprises. Article 20: "The two parties undertake to develop, in the defense sector, the cooperation between their armed forces, including through the exchange of military information and a strong industrial partnership in the field of defense and military industries. But also (Article 19) "the two Parties shall encourage a system of control of land borders Libya to be entrusted to Italian companies."
In short, we are accomplices. We are bound by a "close partnership" with a country that was and is no guarantee of respect for human rights.
It is urgent duty of the Italian Parliament has ratified almost unanimous agreement that the Treaty was already easily recognizable as a shameful act immediately to suspend him. We will begin our report with the sentence pronounced by Berlusconi, while demonstrators in Benghazi were wiped out with weapons and perhaps Italian media: "Do not ask me to act now. I can not disturb Gaddafi ".
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Two rape a girl a in short distance from Trinita dei Monti
It happened on the climb to San Sebastianello, a few meters from Piazza di Spagna in Rome. The young Spanish woman, aged 23, in shock, and then returned home, along with the boyfriend went to the hospital. It is possible that some of the area camera may have captured the two on the run
FEDERICA ANGELS
Raped in the center, Trinity Mountains, on the slope of San Sebastian. Violence in the heart of nightlife in the crowd and the excitement of Friday night, in the confusion of chatter and laughter. Thus, two young people, around one and a half, grabbed the girl by the arm, - a Spanish student of 23 years who is in Rome to study, and they dragged behind a car parked. The victim was raped by both in turn, between the car and a wall.
The girl, in shock, disbelief for what had happened in a place full of people, and then returned home, along with the boyfriend went to the hospital to be healed Vannini. At half past two in the morning, an hour after the drama. The young woman reported being threatened with a knife and forcibly taken into a dark place.
The agents of the squad the capital, directed by Vittorio Rizzi, were immediately put on the trail of the two attackers. But the minutes are precious in these cases, despite the 70 police cars lined up to watch the old town over the weekend, it was impossible to detect. But the investigations are ongoing and are tightened. It is possible that some of the area camera may have captured the two on the run.
FEDERICA ANGELS
Raped in the center, Trinity Mountains, on the slope of San Sebastian. Violence in the heart of nightlife in the crowd and the excitement of Friday night, in the confusion of chatter and laughter. Thus, two young people, around one and a half, grabbed the girl by the arm, - a Spanish student of 23 years who is in Rome to study, and they dragged behind a car parked. The victim was raped by both in turn, between the car and a wall.
The girl, in shock, disbelief for what had happened in a place full of people, and then returned home, along with the boyfriend went to the hospital to be healed Vannini. At half past two in the morning, an hour after the drama. The young woman reported being threatened with a knife and forcibly taken into a dark place.
The agents of the squad the capital, directed by Vittorio Rizzi, were immediately put on the trail of the two attackers. But the minutes are precious in these cases, despite the 70 police cars lined up to watch the old town over the weekend, it was impossible to detect. But the investigations are ongoing and are tightened. It is possible that some of the area camera may have captured the two on the run.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The italian death penalty
”As everyone knows, the death penalty doesn’t exist in Italy. It’s true, there’s still the freedom to torture, in that our penal code does not mention it and some people take advantage, as they did during the Genoa’s G8 at Bolzaneto and at the Diaz school. But since 01 January 1948, the death penalty no longer exists, as stated in the Italian Constitution. That’s the reason why capital sentences are executed with discretion in the prisons, without being too visible. The beating up is called a heart attack or a cerebral haemorrhage. Strangling is always a suicide, often with the laces of their shoes that even a cricket wouldn’t be able to use to hang itself. You can die in your cell and during your death throes, that can last for hours, as they did for Aldo Bianzino or for Stefano Cucchi, no one is present. The prison orderly is constantly somewhere else. The duty doctor late. When he arrives, reassuring, with his bag, he never notices the signs of the hitting, the bruises, and the injuries. The death is natural. The doctors’ photocopy diagnoses state that the injuries were self inflicted. They always hurt themselves. The detainee was depressed, he couldn’t cope. The signs of the dark badness that the dead prisoners inflicted on themselves are the witness letters sent to the relatives, and especially their mothers, shortly before their death.
They are announcements of death, from lads who are shouting out in an uncertain handwriting, desperate, lads who are about to be killed dead. The mothers ask for an interview, a transfer, but however, right up to the death, that is denied, as in the case of Niki Aprile Gatti. Prison, the place that by definition is the safest and the most looked after in the world, is an arm of death that extends right down the peninsula from Genoa, to Florence, to Rovereto. Each year, about 180 detainees die in prison.
A third are suicides. The ones that take their own life are usually the lads being imprisoned for the first time. In 2009, there were sixty nine suicides, a record as never before, a suicide rate that is twenty one times the rate for the Italian population not in prison. It’s possible to think that it’s normal that that happens, in Italy like elsewhere. However, Canada has a rate that is four times lower than the Italian rate and the Polish Minister of Justice had to resign because of a suicide. In prison, the ones who survive and don’t commit suicide or get themselves suicided becomes habitual criminals, a danger to society when they return to freedom. The option of being on probation in the care of the social services has in fact been eliminated. Probation is a measure for re-education to protect the safety of the citizens. The prisoners on probation with the social services, in fact, almost never commit other crimes and go back inside: only three out of ten. Those who serve their whole sentence in prison continue to commit crime: a good seven out of ten.
This book is a painful chorus of voices that tell us the story of infernal to-ing and fro-ing in which the death penalty is inflicted without a verdict, without guilt, without witnesses, and above all without anyone being guilty. The prison, like the uniform, is not put on trial, and anyone ending up behind bars is just a number with no longer any rights. The death penalty has never been abolished, it has evolved. Anyone, to general surprise, found dead in his cell, with a swollen face, his organs in a state of devastation, is just one who is “differently suicided”.( Beppe Grillo)
They are announcements of death, from lads who are shouting out in an uncertain handwriting, desperate, lads who are about to be killed dead. The mothers ask for an interview, a transfer, but however, right up to the death, that is denied, as in the case of Niki Aprile Gatti. Prison, the place that by definition is the safest and the most looked after in the world, is an arm of death that extends right down the peninsula from Genoa, to Florence, to Rovereto. Each year, about 180 detainees die in prison.
A third are suicides. The ones that take their own life are usually the lads being imprisoned for the first time. In 2009, there were sixty nine suicides, a record as never before, a suicide rate that is twenty one times the rate for the Italian population not in prison. It’s possible to think that it’s normal that that happens, in Italy like elsewhere. However, Canada has a rate that is four times lower than the Italian rate and the Polish Minister of Justice had to resign because of a suicide. In prison, the ones who survive and don’t commit suicide or get themselves suicided becomes habitual criminals, a danger to society when they return to freedom. The option of being on probation in the care of the social services has in fact been eliminated. Probation is a measure for re-education to protect the safety of the citizens. The prisoners on probation with the social services, in fact, almost never commit other crimes and go back inside: only three out of ten. Those who serve their whole sentence in prison continue to commit crime: a good seven out of ten.
This book is a painful chorus of voices that tell us the story of infernal to-ing and fro-ing in which the death penalty is inflicted without a verdict, without guilt, without witnesses, and above all without anyone being guilty. The prison, like the uniform, is not put on trial, and anyone ending up behind bars is just a number with no longer any rights. The death penalty has never been abolished, it has evolved. Anyone, to general surprise, found dead in his cell, with a swollen face, his organs in a state of devastation, is just one who is “differently suicided”.( Beppe Grillo)
The shit hits the fan
Some people compare Berlusconi with Al Capone. The former on his way out because of stories involving prostitutes, the latter imprisoned for tax dodging. But the comparison doesn’t stand up for two reasons. The first is that Al Capone was the boss of Chicago, but not the President of the United States. He was a private citizen, not the First Citizen. The second reason is that he did not have available to him information about the big tax dodgers of America, whereas the psycho-dwarf certainly has a cupboard full of dossiers on all those who have been gravely sinning, and not just sexually, whether they are in Parliament or in the institutions. How many are there and who are they? Before leaving the stage he will bring them down. He will use his media like cannons. In 1993 it was said that politics could not be substituted by the magistracy. The collapse of the 5-party set up has gifted us with the worst twenty year period of the Republic and the restoration of the Craxi-ists and the P2-ists. Who remembers Tina Alselmi? In 2011 we are still at the starting point, like a never-ending ‘Game of The Goose’. Then the bribe money, today the showgirls. In this legislature the Oppositions (?) have had a number of opportunities to bring down the government. It would have been a worthwhile action. It didn’t happen. And politics has been substituted by Ruby. Politics cannot abdicate its role. Bersani, Fini, Casini, D'Alema, Veltroni and other courageous ones are using a young girl as their shield for the end game. A game that should have and could have ended a decade ago. Berlusconi has been a lame duck for some time. He is the past. But, in politics, there’s a variety of ways to bury the dead. The risk is that even the Italian Republic might get buried. After the fall of Benito Mussolini, there was chaos, September 8, the fleeing of the king. Berlusconi is the one who is the guarantee of very precarious equilibria. The economy is close to collapse, whatever ‘Tremorti’ says. If there were elections, with PDL in disorder, the Lega could get a majority in the North and start off the secession with the consensus in the Veneto region and in Lombardy. The psycho-dwarf in his own way has been the glue of a Nation that is in decay, his alibi and his mirror. This evening in the streets of the cities of Italy, hundreds of underage girls will be offering themselves as prostitutes to the general indifference of the public and today multitudes of Italians will take off in flight, true modern ogres, to rape children in the world. Is anybody interested? We can expect a period of private shit in the fan; I believe that almost no one will be immune. (Beppe Grillo)
The Italian prime minister has been ordered to stand trial
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, has been ordered to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then used his political position to try and cover it up.
Cristina Di Censo, a Milan judge, handed down the indictment on Tuesday. The trial is set to begin on April 6.
The 74-year-old billionaire has denied the charges against him, saying they are politically motivated. However, his lawyers on Tuesday said they "didn't expect anything else," in response to the news.
Prosecutors bringing the case against Berlusconi allege he paid for sex with a "significant number" of young women including a Moroccan dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer, who was 17 at the time.
The premier is also accused of using his influence to free her from custody after being arrested on suspicion of an unrelated theft.
Political immunity removed
A group of Milan judges, who conducted an investigation into the claims before seeking trial, say the premier acted in fear that her detention would have revealed her relationship to him.
But Berlusconi and Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, have both denied having sex, and the premier's supporters say he helped release her from jail because he believed she was a relative of Hosni Mubarak, the recently ousted Egyptian president.
Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby, has denied having sex with the Italian prime minister [Reuters]
Tuesday's development is the biggest blow yet to the embattled prime minister, who is resisting calls to step down amid a growing number of scandals and political problems.
Earlier this week, thousands of women rallied around the country against the prime minister, saying the alleged scandals were humiliating.
The prime minister has also come under pressure from the Vatican and Confindustria, Italy's main business lobby.
Tim Friend, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rome, said many people in Italy "are starting to ask if this is the beginning of the end for their prime minister".
"This [impending court case] is the worst possible news for Berlusconi, Italy's longest-serving post-war leader. He has a long history of accusations against him including sex scandals and corruption," he said.
Berlusconi has also been made politically vulnerable following a split with a former ally, and last month a court partially removed his right to political immunity.
Tuesday's decision suggests that Di Censo believes that there is sufficient evidence to subject Berlusconi to an immediate trial, which skips the preliminary hearing stage.
But his lawyers have previously accused the Milan court of "violating the constitution", saying Berlusconi could only be tried in a special court for members of parliament.
Our correspondent said in theory the Italian leader could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.
"This looks as though the judge has decided on a fast-track trial.
"Berlusconi will be marshalling his defences, I think he will say some of this evidence against him was acquired through phone taps, through interceptions and he might challenge it in that way," he said.
Cristina Di Censo, a Milan judge, handed down the indictment on Tuesday. The trial is set to begin on April 6.
The 74-year-old billionaire has denied the charges against him, saying they are politically motivated. However, his lawyers on Tuesday said they "didn't expect anything else," in response to the news.
Prosecutors bringing the case against Berlusconi allege he paid for sex with a "significant number" of young women including a Moroccan dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer, who was 17 at the time.
The premier is also accused of using his influence to free her from custody after being arrested on suspicion of an unrelated theft.
Political immunity removed
A group of Milan judges, who conducted an investigation into the claims before seeking trial, say the premier acted in fear that her detention would have revealed her relationship to him.
But Berlusconi and Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, have both denied having sex, and the premier's supporters say he helped release her from jail because he believed she was a relative of Hosni Mubarak, the recently ousted Egyptian president.
Karima El Mahroug, known as Ruby, has denied having sex with the Italian prime minister [Reuters]
Tuesday's development is the biggest blow yet to the embattled prime minister, who is resisting calls to step down amid a growing number of scandals and political problems.
Earlier this week, thousands of women rallied around the country against the prime minister, saying the alleged scandals were humiliating.
The prime minister has also come under pressure from the Vatican and Confindustria, Italy's main business lobby.
Tim Friend, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rome, said many people in Italy "are starting to ask if this is the beginning of the end for their prime minister".
"This [impending court case] is the worst possible news for Berlusconi, Italy's longest-serving post-war leader. He has a long history of accusations against him including sex scandals and corruption," he said.
Berlusconi has also been made politically vulnerable following a split with a former ally, and last month a court partially removed his right to political immunity.
Tuesday's decision suggests that Di Censo believes that there is sufficient evidence to subject Berlusconi to an immediate trial, which skips the preliminary hearing stage.
But his lawyers have previously accused the Milan court of "violating the constitution", saying Berlusconi could only be tried in a special court for members of parliament.
Our correspondent said in theory the Italian leader could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.
"This looks as though the judge has decided on a fast-track trial.
"Berlusconi will be marshalling his defences, I think he will say some of this evidence against him was acquired through phone taps, through interceptions and he might challenge it in that way," he said.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Italy has declared a humanitarian emergency
after thousands of migrants sailed across the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia, overwhelming authorities on Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island.
The Italian government said on Sunday that it was planning to deploy security forces on Tunisian soil to stop the waves of illegal immigrants.
"I will ask Tunisia's foreign minister for authorisation for our forces to intervene in Tunisia to block the flux," Roberto Maroni, Italy's interior minister, said in a television interview.
He said that the EU had not responded to Italian calls for assistance, and that his country would have to manage the crisis.
Bernardino De Rubeis, Lampedusa's mayor, called the situation "out of control".
The remarks came a day after the Italian government said in a statement: "The cabinet today... has proclaimed a state of humanitarian emergency following the influx of the large number of citizens from North Africa."
The statement said that the decision to call an official emergency would enable civil protection officers "to take immediate action needed to control this phenomenon and assist citizens who have fled from North Africa".
In particular, the move will enable the central government to release funds for local authorities in areas which have been inundated by the wave of refugees, most of whom have fled to Lampedusa.
The majority of the people have come from nearby Tunisia, in the wake of the country's revolution four weeks ago.
Nearly 4,000 migrants have landed in Italy since Wednesday, according to Antonio Morana, harbour master on the island.
Most were packed into small fishing boats that were intercepted by coast guards and then taken to Lampedusa, where they were given blankets and received medical care after stepping off the boats.
Hundreds have had to sleep out in the open at the port because of a lack of facilities on the island, while others were taken to local hotels.
'More immigrants'
Karl Stagno Navarra, a journalist following events from Valletta, Malta's capital, told Al Jazeera that more migrants are on their way.
"The problem is not only for law and order on the island, but its also logistics, because the centre for migrants [on the island], which used to be operational up to a year ago ... has been closed," he said.
"The latest reports of the Italian authorities say they have identified at least another 10 boats that are expected on the island between midnight and 7am local time on Sunday."
Navarra said that up to 10,000 migrants were expected in the next week.
"So we have 4,000 migrants on an island with 5,000 inhabitants, and a structure that has a capacity to welcome not more than 800 migrants. So you can imagine the situation over there," he said.
"Throughout the night, thousands of migrants have been kept on the harbour keys, and also in the village squares. So we have a situation which is really out of hand at the moment."
Navarra said that many of the migrants say they are ultimately trying to reach France, where some of their family members are based.
Formal request
The Italian authorities have organised an airlift and put a ferry into service to take some of the people off Lampedusa, transporting them to identification centres in southern Sicily.
Italy made a formal request on Friday for aid from the European Union to combat what it warned was a looming humanitarian crisis, saying that the EU's justice and home affairs council should meet immediately to discuss the matter.
In a joint statement, Maroni, the Italian interior minister, and Franco Frattini, the foreign minister, also requested "the immediate deployment of a Frontex mission for patrolling and interception off the Tunisian coast", referring to the EU's border security agency based in Warsaw.
Maroni has blamed the influx on the Tunisian authorities, saying they were unable to enforce bilateral accords on curbing illegal immigration after the weeks of protests and political turmoil in the country.
TAP, the official Tunisian news agency, said a young Tunisian migrant had drowned, and another was reported missing, when a boat carrying 12 people sank on Saturday off the coast of Tunisia, en route to Europe
The Italian government said on Sunday that it was planning to deploy security forces on Tunisian soil to stop the waves of illegal immigrants.
"I will ask Tunisia's foreign minister for authorisation for our forces to intervene in Tunisia to block the flux," Roberto Maroni, Italy's interior minister, said in a television interview.
He said that the EU had not responded to Italian calls for assistance, and that his country would have to manage the crisis.
Bernardino De Rubeis, Lampedusa's mayor, called the situation "out of control".
The remarks came a day after the Italian government said in a statement: "The cabinet today... has proclaimed a state of humanitarian emergency following the influx of the large number of citizens from North Africa."
The statement said that the decision to call an official emergency would enable civil protection officers "to take immediate action needed to control this phenomenon and assist citizens who have fled from North Africa".
In particular, the move will enable the central government to release funds for local authorities in areas which have been inundated by the wave of refugees, most of whom have fled to Lampedusa.
The majority of the people have come from nearby Tunisia, in the wake of the country's revolution four weeks ago.
Nearly 4,000 migrants have landed in Italy since Wednesday, according to Antonio Morana, harbour master on the island.
Most were packed into small fishing boats that were intercepted by coast guards and then taken to Lampedusa, where they were given blankets and received medical care after stepping off the boats.
Hundreds have had to sleep out in the open at the port because of a lack of facilities on the island, while others were taken to local hotels.
'More immigrants'
Karl Stagno Navarra, a journalist following events from Valletta, Malta's capital, told Al Jazeera that more migrants are on their way.
"The problem is not only for law and order on the island, but its also logistics, because the centre for migrants [on the island], which used to be operational up to a year ago ... has been closed," he said.
"The latest reports of the Italian authorities say they have identified at least another 10 boats that are expected on the island between midnight and 7am local time on Sunday."
Navarra said that up to 10,000 migrants were expected in the next week.
"So we have 4,000 migrants on an island with 5,000 inhabitants, and a structure that has a capacity to welcome not more than 800 migrants. So you can imagine the situation over there," he said.
"Throughout the night, thousands of migrants have been kept on the harbour keys, and also in the village squares. So we have a situation which is really out of hand at the moment."
Navarra said that many of the migrants say they are ultimately trying to reach France, where some of their family members are based.
Formal request
The Italian authorities have organised an airlift and put a ferry into service to take some of the people off Lampedusa, transporting them to identification centres in southern Sicily.
Italy made a formal request on Friday for aid from the European Union to combat what it warned was a looming humanitarian crisis, saying that the EU's justice and home affairs council should meet immediately to discuss the matter.
In a joint statement, Maroni, the Italian interior minister, and Franco Frattini, the foreign minister, also requested "the immediate deployment of a Frontex mission for patrolling and interception off the Tunisian coast", referring to the EU's border security agency based in Warsaw.
Maroni has blamed the influx on the Tunisian authorities, saying they were unable to enforce bilateral accords on curbing illegal immigration after the weeks of protests and political turmoil in the country.
TAP, the official Tunisian news agency, said a young Tunisian migrant had drowned, and another was reported missing, when a boat carrying 12 people sank on Saturday off the coast of Tunisia, en route to Europe
Giving birth in car no first aid
The lack of reception in a private clinic, moved away a couple of Pakistanis: "We are not equipped, go to the hospital." The newborn's mother slips into his trousers. Saved by the neighbor Arzano. Now the police investigate
Tiziana Cozzi and Irene De Arcangelis
AMANA is a beautiful little girl. He has not even a day old. But she was born in a night of nightmares. An adventure in the suburbs north of Naples for his mother, Asia, and his father Muhammad, a Pakistani family living Arzano. Everything has a happy ending, but parents report incredible hours . Little was born, her head was already out of the mother's body. Yet mother and daughter were turned away from emergency obstetric a private clinic, Mother and Asia has given birth in the car of a neighbor, for help, had started driving in my pajamas. Ten minutes after the story of Asia has left open-mouthed with astonishment and indignation the doctors of the St. John Bosco hospital. Now the police will have to determine the exact dynamics of the facts, but meanwhile the story of the couple leaves you speechless.
"My daughter is beautiful," whispers Asia from his hospital bed, holding in her arms. Is exhausted, childbirth, stress, after anxiety night. "We were having dinner when the pain started and my husband told me not to worry and eat. Muhammad kept saying not to worry and stay calm. There are still three days to caesarean section. But the pain increased, I suddenly realized that the waters had broken. " Hence the mad rush begins and the ugly adventure. "I rushed to call our neighbor - remember Muhammad still in shock - and he has helped Asia to get into the car without even worrying about how to dress. He left everything to help, he. And it was he felt for the first Once the baby cry while we were still in the car, but seconds later we arrived at the emergency room of the obstetric clinic. We thought it was now done. " But no. "I came into the emergency room with my neighbor and asked for help as Asia gave birth in cars. But they told us:" No, we are not equipped for emergencies. Ask the hospital. "They have not even called an ambulance, so we ran away, was a race against time."
Three kilometers by car to the emergency room of St. John Bosco, and Asia give birth in car and the child ends up in a wide-leg pants of the mom. Saved by the double umbilical cord. In short they are surrounded by doctors and nurses. The nightmare is over, even though Asia has suffered a lot. The discomfort of the birth of luck has caused deep internal divisions, so it remains hospitalized. "I was convinced - Mohammad says - that the clinic would help us, because the gynecologist who has followed my wife works in that clinic and the clinic is that my wife should have done the Caesarean section planned three days later. But it was not can have no support. I was sure that those minutes would be lost to the indifference that killed my wife and my daughter. ... Maybeif we were Italians ...".
Tiziana Cozzi and Irene De Arcangelis
AMANA is a beautiful little girl. He has not even a day old. But she was born in a night of nightmares. An adventure in the suburbs north of Naples for his mother, Asia, and his father Muhammad, a Pakistani family living Arzano. Everything has a happy ending, but parents report incredible hours . Little was born, her head was already out of the mother's body. Yet mother and daughter were turned away from emergency obstetric a private clinic, Mother and Asia has given birth in the car of a neighbor, for help, had started driving in my pajamas. Ten minutes after the story of Asia has left open-mouthed with astonishment and indignation the doctors of the St. John Bosco hospital. Now the police will have to determine the exact dynamics of the facts, but meanwhile the story of the couple leaves you speechless.
"My daughter is beautiful," whispers Asia from his hospital bed, holding in her arms. Is exhausted, childbirth, stress, after anxiety night. "We were having dinner when the pain started and my husband told me not to worry and eat. Muhammad kept saying not to worry and stay calm. There are still three days to caesarean section. But the pain increased, I suddenly realized that the waters had broken. " Hence the mad rush begins and the ugly adventure. "I rushed to call our neighbor - remember Muhammad still in shock - and he has helped Asia to get into the car without even worrying about how to dress. He left everything to help, he. And it was he felt for the first Once the baby cry while we were still in the car, but seconds later we arrived at the emergency room of the obstetric clinic. We thought it was now done. " But no. "I came into the emergency room with my neighbor and asked for help as Asia gave birth in cars. But they told us:" No, we are not equipped for emergencies. Ask the hospital. "They have not even called an ambulance, so we ran away, was a race against time."
Three kilometers by car to the emergency room of St. John Bosco, and Asia give birth in car and the child ends up in a wide-leg pants of the mom. Saved by the double umbilical cord. In short they are surrounded by doctors and nurses. The nightmare is over, even though Asia has suffered a lot. The discomfort of the birth of luck has caused deep internal divisions, so it remains hospitalized. "I was convinced - Mohammad says - that the clinic would help us, because the gynecologist who has followed my wife works in that clinic and the clinic is that my wife should have done the Caesarean section planned three days later. But it was not can have no support. I was sure that those minutes would be lost to the indifference that killed my wife and my daughter. ... Maybeif we were Italians ...".
Friday, February 4, 2011
A girl of four years left without food, in the cafeteria of his asylum, and sent home by the will of a mayor
The story is very simple:. After all, this is a new, small, fierce story, a story of brave men who get to go to war to children. And it's one of those easy wars in which certain directors of the League ( the party which wants a separation from Italy)try to distort the beautiful face of the north and stain the generosity of the Venetians on the pretext of good administration. Perhaps it would be a "New Adro" - this story - if Fossalta di Piave solidarity with the parents (who went to school in protest), the teachers and school staff had not been against the decisions of the mayor and the school director. It would certainly be incredible if were not the testimony of the parents, the official documents and even the words of those directly involved.
Here's what happened. In kindergarten, "The Magic Flute" Fossalta di Piave (part of the Institute including Meolo) - a lovely school with teachers and five games out ,very respectable - there is a child of African origin (we call it Hope although this is not her name). Hope he has a family poor but happy. The working-class father, the mother who takes care of the children: he works in the industries of the area, they do not miss the bread. Hope has four siblings: two younger than her, the two older, already in elementary school. When she enters school age can not enroll in school, because no place: the school can accommodate only fifty children. This year, Hope's mother (we'll call Mary, although this is not his name) has time to receive good news and a terrible blow. The good news is that Hope will finally get to school because there is place for her. Goes to full-time, soon learns Italian, integrates, helps his family - and the mother is expressed in very few words and verbs in the infinitive - to join our community . But then comes the shock: the father of Hope, after losing his job and not be able to find a new one, choose to emigrate to Belgium, where they promised a job for sure. He does, and small foreign family begins to crumble. It was he who spoke in a fluent Italian, he kept his relationships with other parents in the school. Maria is one: the money coming from Belgium are very few compared to the needs of five children. The children of elementary school have lunch and have a full time, but Hope in her new class, (although with the preferential tariff) must still pay fifty euro per month. If they have to tighten their belts are still a lot of money. And so Mary is directed to social services in the municipality, that answer they can not intervene to help her.
In the meantime (just a week ago), the teachers of the school come up with a solution: each of them will give up once a week in which she is entitled to lunch (at work) and will transfer to the child. It 'a gesture of solidarity pragmatic, discreet. Enter into, the two school employees, is in agreement with the religion teacher who comes once a week. In an institution where you are and where they eat 60 meals 50 children, in fact, the advance would be enough food each day (and advance) for all. But the teachers want that there are no irregularities, and so make do: one day one of them goes home before, another day brings a sandwich, another skip the jokes that do well on the line .
But here ends the good side of the story and the play begins surreal and grotesque. Mayor Massimo Sensini League (which has been informed by the social services and the director) learns that the solution has been found and goes on a rampage. Convene the director of the district, Simonetta Murri and explains that "they are guilty of serious irregularities." He takes a pen and paper and writes his own hand a letter which read sentences like this: "It should be noted that the staff (the school, ed.) May not assign his meal without incurring a loss of revenue for the municipality of Fossalta Piave. In short, the Administrator Sensini, the teachers who are deprived of a meal to eat a girl of four years, are akin to thieves who steal to the City of public goods. The director supports the decision, and in turn draws up a service order whose meaning is: "If this attitude will be repeated the charge will be reported to the administrator." With this procedure, the teachers and risk disciplinary action, suspension from teaching. And they do not want to talk. Mary was informed that should appear to take Hope to 12.00 and not more than 16.00. The child is forced to skip the full-time and away from her classmates. Maria does what she was told, and two days ago, the baby starts crying in class when the mother takes her to bring her home. Yesterday, the parents requested a meeting with Director of the Institute to ask you to resolve the situation.
But the Director says: "Unfortunately I agree with the warning that the mayor did." Questions like the judge's letter and she will respond: "I found it ironic. And useful. " But in what sense? The Murri is an example: "If you have a house given you by the town you can not sublet to third parties, you know? It 's a crime. If you are entitled to a meal from the dining room can not give those who pass. " Try to suggest to the Director that the child is not a person who "passes". The Murri does not accept the idea: "But you see, this is a principle: the solution was serious and damaging. If we all want the free meal What can we do? ". I ask whether he has received other requests: "For now, no. But could not reach many, we are in times of crisis. " Try to ask if she thinks that the fact that the child is outside the EU has resulted in the decision of the board: "I think not. Indeed, this affair is the best guarantee of good faith of the mayor: the child is treated as any Italian would be treated. " Remains still in disbelief and looking for the mayor Sensini, born in 1951. But he does not answer and calls you back. Too bad. After all, this is a simple story, a little story of ordinary ferocity. But an end - thankfully - has not yet been written.
Here's what happened. In kindergarten, "The Magic Flute" Fossalta di Piave (part of the Institute including Meolo) - a lovely school with teachers and five games out ,very respectable - there is a child of African origin (we call it Hope although this is not her name). Hope he has a family poor but happy. The working-class father, the mother who takes care of the children: he works in the industries of the area, they do not miss the bread. Hope has four siblings: two younger than her, the two older, already in elementary school. When she enters school age can not enroll in school, because no place: the school can accommodate only fifty children. This year, Hope's mother (we'll call Mary, although this is not his name) has time to receive good news and a terrible blow. The good news is that Hope will finally get to school because there is place for her. Goes to full-time, soon learns Italian, integrates, helps his family - and the mother is expressed in very few words and verbs in the infinitive - to join our community . But then comes the shock: the father of Hope, after losing his job and not be able to find a new one, choose to emigrate to Belgium, where they promised a job for sure. He does, and small foreign family begins to crumble. It was he who spoke in a fluent Italian, he kept his relationships with other parents in the school. Maria is one: the money coming from Belgium are very few compared to the needs of five children. The children of elementary school have lunch and have a full time, but Hope in her new class, (although with the preferential tariff) must still pay fifty euro per month. If they have to tighten their belts are still a lot of money. And so Mary is directed to social services in the municipality, that answer they can not intervene to help her.
In the meantime (just a week ago), the teachers of the school come up with a solution: each of them will give up once a week in which she is entitled to lunch (at work) and will transfer to the child. It 'a gesture of solidarity pragmatic, discreet. Enter into, the two school employees, is in agreement with the religion teacher who comes once a week. In an institution where you are and where they eat 60 meals 50 children, in fact, the advance would be enough food each day (and advance) for all. But the teachers want that there are no irregularities, and so make do: one day one of them goes home before, another day brings a sandwich, another skip the jokes that do well on the line .
But here ends the good side of the story and the play begins surreal and grotesque. Mayor Massimo Sensini League (which has been informed by the social services and the director) learns that the solution has been found and goes on a rampage. Convene the director of the district, Simonetta Murri and explains that "they are guilty of serious irregularities." He takes a pen and paper and writes his own hand a letter which read sentences like this: "It should be noted that the staff (the school, ed.) May not assign his meal without incurring a loss of revenue for the municipality of Fossalta Piave. In short, the Administrator Sensini, the teachers who are deprived of a meal to eat a girl of four years, are akin to thieves who steal to the City of public goods. The director supports the decision, and in turn draws up a service order whose meaning is: "If this attitude will be repeated the charge will be reported to the administrator." With this procedure, the teachers and risk disciplinary action, suspension from teaching. And they do not want to talk. Mary was informed that should appear to take Hope to 12.00 and not more than 16.00. The child is forced to skip the full-time and away from her classmates. Maria does what she was told, and two days ago, the baby starts crying in class when the mother takes her to bring her home. Yesterday, the parents requested a meeting with Director of the Institute to ask you to resolve the situation.
But the Director says: "Unfortunately I agree with the warning that the mayor did." Questions like the judge's letter and she will respond: "I found it ironic. And useful. " But in what sense? The Murri is an example: "If you have a house given you by the town you can not sublet to third parties, you know? It 's a crime. If you are entitled to a meal from the dining room can not give those who pass. " Try to suggest to the Director that the child is not a person who "passes". The Murri does not accept the idea: "But you see, this is a principle: the solution was serious and damaging. If we all want the free meal What can we do? ". I ask whether he has received other requests: "For now, no. But could not reach many, we are in times of crisis. " Try to ask if she thinks that the fact that the child is outside the EU has resulted in the decision of the board: "I think not. Indeed, this affair is the best guarantee of good faith of the mayor: the child is treated as any Italian would be treated. " Remains still in disbelief and looking for the mayor Sensini, born in 1951. But he does not answer and calls you back. Too bad. After all, this is a simple story, a little story of ordinary ferocity. But an end - thankfully - has not yet been written.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
"Wandering the Coliseum against the slaughter of husky "
After the massacre of dogs in Canada bipartisan initiative sentencing Friday, February 4 to 16. Monica Cirinnà (Pd): "Pain and condemnation of the Romans"
"The news concerning the massacre of more than 100 huskies took place in Canada," said Monica Cirinnà, Elected President of the Commission of the Democratic Party and adviser of the City "has certainly provoked the indignation of many citizens who have asked me to express publicly their pain and to represent to the Canadian authorities in Italy to their strong condemnation. The Huskies were 'working dogs', pulling the sleds for the amusement of tourists during the Winter Olympics, but in recent times had been unemployed for the decline in travel demand . They were killed as they throw equipment now abandoned.
"Even in Rome in recent years I worked on 'Dogs work' when it was decided to permanently close the dog track at Ponte Marconi - continues Cirinnà - launched a major campaign for adoption of these magnificent greyhounds in a few months found all welcome family. The same was done for the emergence dogs in Romania and Athens, would have been enough of a chain of emails between the major animal welfare organizations in the world to find these dogs a home within hours. This morning I called the council member to 'Marco Visconti and the Environment Officer for Sport Alessandro Cochi, with whom I agreed on an initiative condemning this horrible massacre. Rome Olympic candidate city for the Games in 2020 and Rome city animal rights manifested Friday, February 4 to 16 with a ring under the Colosseum, where you hold hands with people dogs, not just husky, and athletes, including Olympians and former Olympians. It 's no reason for me extremely proud to host an event with coco and Visconti to demonstrate in front of 'horrified reaction must always be strong and united and show that the great heart of Rome. The appointment is for those who wish to participate in the Coliseum, near the subway stop. "
"The news concerning the massacre of more than 100 huskies took place in Canada," said Monica Cirinnà, Elected President of the Commission of the Democratic Party and adviser of the City "has certainly provoked the indignation of many citizens who have asked me to express publicly their pain and to represent to the Canadian authorities in Italy to their strong condemnation. The Huskies were 'working dogs', pulling the sleds for the amusement of tourists during the Winter Olympics, but in recent times had been unemployed for the decline in travel demand . They were killed as they throw equipment now abandoned.
"Even in Rome in recent years I worked on 'Dogs work' when it was decided to permanently close the dog track at Ponte Marconi - continues Cirinnà - launched a major campaign for adoption of these magnificent greyhounds in a few months found all welcome family. The same was done for the emergence dogs in Romania and Athens, would have been enough of a chain of emails between the major animal welfare organizations in the world to find these dogs a home within hours. This morning I called the council member to 'Marco Visconti and the Environment Officer for Sport Alessandro Cochi, with whom I agreed on an initiative condemning this horrible massacre. Rome Olympic candidate city for the Games in 2020 and Rome city animal rights manifested Friday, February 4 to 16 with a ring under the Colosseum, where you hold hands with people dogs, not just husky, and athletes, including Olympians and former Olympians. It 's no reason for me extremely proud to host an event with coco and Visconti to demonstrate in front of 'horrified reaction must always be strong and united and show that the great heart of Rome. The appointment is for those who wish to participate in the Coliseum, near the subway stop. "
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Europe says no to the law "Anti gay" in the Baltic state of Lithuania
Brussels approves a resolution calling on the Lithuanian authorities to reject the legislation, but Vilnius says, "our business" and 'the most homophobic law of the Old Continent.
In Lithuania, gays big risk if the draft law on "protection of minors with regard to public information" will be approved. Some ask for amendments to punish "the public promotion of homosexual relations" with a fine of between 580 and 2900 € to prevent minors from accessing free information on sexual orientation. In the focus of the legislation also gay pride, gay pride marches . Despite the rejection of the EU, which drew the respect of fundamental rights, the government of Vilnius shows no sign to back down: "The vote on this law is a matter of members of the Lithuanian parliament," said Virginija Baltraitienė, deputy spokesman of the Seimas The Lithuanian parliament. "I will vote in favor of homosexuality because no publicity is better not to talk to the children but leave it to themselves, growing up, to discover that there are different people."
In short, less is known about homosexuals unless there will be around. The bill, dubbed the "anti-gay", has shocked international public opinion and led to the intervention of the European Parliament. In that regard was approved a resolution calling on the Lithuanian authorities to reject the legislation. Now the decision lies in Vilnius.
The European Parliament has asked the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, former European Commissioner, to veto the measure is in compliance with European law that the same Constitution of Lithuania. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has been terminated in November 2010 the risk of "criminalization of any public expression, representation or information about homosexuality." According to the agency said, in Lithuania the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are seriously at risk, unlike in other countries (like France, Germany, Holland and Spain) where being gay is no longer a taboo .
Concerned about the association Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), which has appealed to the Lithuanian President and Prime Minister that follows the recommendations of the Council of Europe anti-discrimination dated March 31, 2010.
Meanwhile, The European Parliament takes the opportunity to ask the Commission a "Roadmap EU with concrete steps to combat homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation." Today in the Baltic state gay couples are not legally recognized nor can marry or adopt children. A situation similar to Italy and other EU countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Poland) and light years away from the more liberal Spain, Belgium and in general the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark and non-EU Norway).
The "anti-gay" Lithuanian evidence that sex discrimination in Europe is far from gone. In the Czech Republic, for instance, is still valid "test of the penis", which is monitoring of the sexual orientation of an applicant by watching a pornographic movie . A practical accused of infringing the basic human rights established by international treaties.
Morten Kjaerum, Director of FRA, takes stock in light and shade of the rights of LGBT people in Europe: "There are positives and negatives. Some countries do not yet recognize same-sex marriage with legal and practical consequences for citizens who want to move to another EU state. Just stereotypes are the cause of inaction and discrimination still exist in some countries. "
In Lithuania, gays big risk if the draft law on "protection of minors with regard to public information" will be approved. Some ask for amendments to punish "the public promotion of homosexual relations" with a fine of between 580 and 2900 € to prevent minors from accessing free information on sexual orientation. In the focus of the legislation also gay pride, gay pride marches . Despite the rejection of the EU, which drew the respect of fundamental rights, the government of Vilnius shows no sign to back down: "The vote on this law is a matter of members of the Lithuanian parliament," said Virginija Baltraitienė, deputy spokesman of the Seimas The Lithuanian parliament. "I will vote in favor of homosexuality because no publicity is better not to talk to the children but leave it to themselves, growing up, to discover that there are different people."
In short, less is known about homosexuals unless there will be around. The bill, dubbed the "anti-gay", has shocked international public opinion and led to the intervention of the European Parliament. In that regard was approved a resolution calling on the Lithuanian authorities to reject the legislation. Now the decision lies in Vilnius.
The European Parliament has asked the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, former European Commissioner, to veto the measure is in compliance with European law that the same Constitution of Lithuania. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has been terminated in November 2010 the risk of "criminalization of any public expression, representation or information about homosexuality." According to the agency said, in Lithuania the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are seriously at risk, unlike in other countries (like France, Germany, Holland and Spain) where being gay is no longer a taboo .
Concerned about the association Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), which has appealed to the Lithuanian President and Prime Minister that follows the recommendations of the Council of Europe anti-discrimination dated March 31, 2010.
Meanwhile, The European Parliament takes the opportunity to ask the Commission a "Roadmap EU with concrete steps to combat homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation." Today in the Baltic state gay couples are not legally recognized nor can marry or adopt children. A situation similar to Italy and other EU countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Poland) and light years away from the more liberal Spain, Belgium and in general the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark and non-EU Norway).
The "anti-gay" Lithuanian evidence that sex discrimination in Europe is far from gone. In the Czech Republic, for instance, is still valid "test of the penis", which is monitoring of the sexual orientation of an applicant by watching a pornographic movie . A practical accused of infringing the basic human rights established by international treaties.
Morten Kjaerum, Director of FRA, takes stock in light and shade of the rights of LGBT people in Europe: "There are positives and negatives. Some countries do not yet recognize same-sex marriage with legal and practical consequences for citizens who want to move to another EU state. Just stereotypes are the cause of inaction and discrimination still exist in some countries. "
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Gay rights in Italy
I write to you on behalf of the Associazione Radicale Certi Diritti, a LGBTE (E stands for hEtersosexual) Association committed to enhance LGBT Rights, trans rights and sexual rights (see attached file for more information) in Italy.
In the past years, we have conducted an important Same Sex Marriage campaign, called "Affermazione Civile" (Civil Affirmation)
Together with Avvocatura per i Diritti LGBT - Rete Lenford (the association of Italian lawyers for LGBT rights) we contacted and helped a number of couples to ask their City Councils to put up their banns and then to formally oppose the subsequent refusal.
Affermazione Civile has led to sentence 138/2010 of the Italian Constitutional Court that has increased the opportunity to move on to other strategic litigations. To do so we also decided to better consolidate our connection with ILGA Europe.
Today, especially after the very recent sentence of French Court on Same Sex Marriage, it has become really important to involve into “Affermazione Civile” also the couples living abroad and that are discriminated against by Italy (because their marriage/civil union/ partnership is not recognized in Italy).
Although it would be preferable that at least one of the two members of the couple was Italian, it is not strictly necessary since every European citizen may be discriminated against by Italy. In general, we could refer also to heterosexual couples, as they may be limited in their freedom of movement as well.
For these reasons, we are asking you for any help to get in contact with couples living in your country and that are discriminated against by the Italian government because of their sexual orientation or because they are not married.
Any couple willing to contact us can write directly to affermazionecivile@certidiritti.it
We also would like to check with you the option to organize a meeting in Rome during the Europride week (1-12 June 2011). This meeting could be an important occasion for the representatives of all the associations that share our purposes to get in touch and exchange ideas about future strategies and events to be planned. Since we are sure that many of you are interested in the Europride, please let us know who is willing to attend the event organized in Rome and, as a consequence, share the opportunity to join our meeting.
If you want to help us, some other ideas could be:
1) Report of our campaign in your newsletter
2) Report of our campaign in the internet site
3) Help us translate this letter in your language, so we could publish it on our internet site too (www.certidiritti.it and www.affermazionecivile.it)
4) Help us reach heterosexual couples living under civil union / civil partnership (if they are discriminated against by Italy)
5) Any other support you may want to give to us
For any further information, do not hesitate to ask Gian Mario Felicetti,
affermazionecivile@certidiritti.it
We look forward to hearing from you.
Gian Mario Felicetti
www.certidiritti.it
+39-329-9045945
In the past years, we have conducted an important Same Sex Marriage campaign, called "Affermazione Civile" (Civil Affirmation)
Together with Avvocatura per i Diritti LGBT - Rete Lenford (the association of Italian lawyers for LGBT rights) we contacted and helped a number of couples to ask their City Councils to put up their banns and then to formally oppose the subsequent refusal.
Affermazione Civile has led to sentence 138/2010 of the Italian Constitutional Court that has increased the opportunity to move on to other strategic litigations. To do so we also decided to better consolidate our connection with ILGA Europe.
Today, especially after the very recent sentence of French Court on Same Sex Marriage, it has become really important to involve into “Affermazione Civile” also the couples living abroad and that are discriminated against by Italy (because their marriage/civil union/ partnership is not recognized in Italy).
Although it would be preferable that at least one of the two members of the couple was Italian, it is not strictly necessary since every European citizen may be discriminated against by Italy. In general, we could refer also to heterosexual couples, as they may be limited in their freedom of movement as well.
For these reasons, we are asking you for any help to get in contact with couples living in your country and that are discriminated against by the Italian government because of their sexual orientation or because they are not married.
Any couple willing to contact us can write directly to affermazionecivile@certidiritti.it
We also would like to check with you the option to organize a meeting in Rome during the Europride week (1-12 June 2011). This meeting could be an important occasion for the representatives of all the associations that share our purposes to get in touch and exchange ideas about future strategies and events to be planned. Since we are sure that many of you are interested in the Europride, please let us know who is willing to attend the event organized in Rome and, as a consequence, share the opportunity to join our meeting.
If you want to help us, some other ideas could be:
1) Report of our campaign in your newsletter
2) Report of our campaign in the internet site
3) Help us translate this letter in your language, so we could publish it on our internet site too (www.certidiritti.it and www.affermazionecivile.it)
4) Help us reach heterosexual couples living under civil union / civil partnership (if they are discriminated against by Italy)
5) Any other support you may want to give to us
For any further information, do not hesitate to ask Gian Mario Felicetti,
affermazionecivile@certidiritti.it
We look forward to hearing from you.
Gian Mario Felicetti
www.certidiritti.it
+39-329-9045945
Friday, January 28, 2011
Let’s start by talking about some good news
(Marco Travaglio www.beppegrillo.it)
Good day to you all.. Salvatore Cuffaro, former Governor of Sicily, republican parliamentarian elected on the UDC ticket and who then switched to Berlusconi’s side on one of the supported nomination lists in recent months has been in jail since last Saturday to begin serving a final 7-year sentence for aggravated aiding and abetting the Cosa Nostra. He was found guilty of having tipped-off a known and previously convicted mafioso like come Giuseppe Guttadauro, the Boss of Brancaccio, as well as a businessman with suspected mafia links and convicted together with him, namely Aiello, about the fact that they were under investigation and under surveillance. In other words, for having aided and abetted their attempt to escape the ongoing investigation against them by the Palermo Prosecutors.
Cuffaro in prison
Certainly an extremely serious crime, this. A Governor, the Head of the Sicilian Regional Administration who helps an already convicted mafia boss and another who was later convicted to evade or at least try to evade an official investigation and warns them about the fact that they are under investigation and under surveillance, what next? … We never found out who told Cuffaro in the first place but the fact remains that since the other day it has been officially confirmed that he took that news and passed it straight on to the two mafiosi.
One previously convicted and the other soon to be convicted, those are the facts. It raised many eyebrows and created quite a stir to see a serving parliamentarian going into Rebibbia Prison because, as far as anyone can remember, in recent times and indeed in recent decades, the last time anything like this was seen was when Previti was taken into Rebibbia Prison to serve out a 7 and a half year sentence following his twin convictions for having bribed judges, namely in the Mondadori case and then the Mills case. However, thanks to a partial official pardon, and to a letter that she had got from Berlusconi, the former Ms. Cirielli landed up serving only 3 years of the 7 and a half year sentence in jail, with the rest being served under house arrest and even in the care of social services, in other words, in total freedom.
Compared to Previti, Cuffaro instead has a major problem because, although their sentences are much of a muchness, Previti 7,5 years and Cuffaro 7-years, tank to article 7 concerning aggravating circumstances, Cuffaro’s crime is not subject to the partial pardon, so he won’t get that 3-year discount. Therefore, Cuffaro has no hope of serving only four years of that sentence, which, with additional benefits, etc, would drop quickly to 3 years, the threshold under which the sentence can be served under the auspices of social services. As a result, unless they change the law, he will have to serve at least the first 4 years of his 7-year sentence actually in jail. Obviously his career is over, but it doesn’t end there. Within the next few days the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Palermo Court should be handing down his ruling in the other case in which the Prosecution brought charges of associating with the mafia, meaning that his aiding and abetting was not in fact a sporadic occurrence, but that this man was a politician permanently at the service of the Cosa Nostra.
And his old mentor, Mannino, did him absolutely no favours yesterday when, in an interview with a daily newspaper, he remembered how pissed off he had been when he found out that Cuffaro had approached Angelo Siino, a mafia representative on the tender allocation committee and who thus controlled a large block of votes, to ask for his votes for Mannino.
Obviously it is never a nice thing to see someone land up in jail, it’s not good news that amongst the current 70-thousand odd prison inmates, yes it’s already up there at 70-thousand, there is even one of our politicians, politicians who should be serving the interests of the people, but at least one crooked politician has landed up in the clink to serve out his sentence. It is also very sad to see how many people, many of them perhaps in good faith, have complimented Cuffaro on his restraint because he didn’t proceed to rant and rave against the magistrates and because he handed himself in for prosecution, especially since no such complements have been paid to the other 70-thousand inmates currently sitting in the Country’s prisons, many of whom have done much the same sort of thing and also did not rant and rave about any judicial plots, the politicisation of the judiciary and bullshit like that.
There is another interesting question, however, and one that we will leave to the people of the centre-left to ask, those that want to join up with Casini at all costs. What does UDC leader Casini have to say about this conviction? Some of you may well remember a certain video clip that is doing the rounds on YouTube, indeed you may want to trace that clip and link it to our Passaparola. Casini appeared on Anno Zero to create a scene, cap on his head and Michele Santoro asked him: are you prepared to swear to Cuffaro’s innocence? Casini said: Yes! He then went on to add that although he would not nominate for election anyone who was under investigation or under suspicion, except for Cuffaro, on whose innocence he was personally prepared to bet. He was prepared to personally stand by Cuffaro, an understandable position for a party leader rallying to the aid of a party member who was, after all, still deemed to be innocent at the time. However, when one backs an ally so forcefully and put’s one’s own reputation on the line, one can get badly burned, so the question now is whether or not Casini will ever be called to account for his poor judgement in backing a man who is now in jail for aiding and abetting the mafia?
What we really need is the kind of media that would be prepared to put these questions to Casini, but unfortunately that will never happen, so all we can hope is that he will once again appear on Anno Zero where Santoro, or someone else on his behalf, can call Casini to account by asking: do you remember standing up for Cuffaro? What now? Please explain! Instead, Casini can now even wipe his hands of the matter since Cuffaro was not even a member of the UDC when he went to jail, because although he was elected under the UDC banner he then chose to go with Berlusconi, who is a renowned collector of convicted criminals and gets jealous when he sees one in another party and wants him at all costs!
Another bit of good news is what happened just the other day at Lissone, near Monza. The Pdl-aligned Mayor, together with Stefania Craxi, inaugurated a town square, Piazza Bettino Craxi, on the 11th anniversary of the man’s death. Fortunately, in this day and age such things can no longer be done hush-hush because the Web is merciless and you can find out anything you want if you just go looking for it, so Piero Ricca, members of the general public and Italia dei Valori activists went along to that inauguration, where they began to shout out loud precisely what Craxi was, namely a thief, a criminal and an escapee, so much so that the ceremony that was due to be held in the town square itself had to be hurriedly moved to a theatre because Mrs. Craxi and her buddies had to make a run for it and go and hide. Meanwhile, back in the square, the name plate proclaiming “Piazza Craxi” was being replaced with a cardboard sign proclaiming “Piazza Sandro Pertini - President of all Italians”. He too was a socialist but, surprise surprise, no one remembers him because he was honest and therefore not deemed to be a good example, whereas the most remembered socialist ever also happens to be that man that single-handedly destroyed the socialist party, namely Craxi. Thank heavens for the Web, because it means that certain things can longer simply pass by unnoticed and there will always be someone to intervene, raise the alarm and draw the battle lines and as long as there is someone, even just one individual who says enough is enough, there is hope for everyone else.
Talking about Craxi, some of you - I hope very few because it takes real guts and courage – may have watched the horrendous funeral march broadcast last night on Tv7, which is the weekly version of the TG1 directed by Augusto “Minzolingua”. An horrendous seditious documentary presented by a former socialist director who has just been appointed as Director of the Mercadante Theatre in Naples by the new socialist and also berlusconian governor Caldoro. This director, I think his name is De Fusco, put together something that was so laudatory that I think even the Craxians were embarrassed, in which Craxi was compared with the likes of Jesus Christ, the stoned adulteress, Oedipus, Colonno, Antigone and Prometheus. It was something absolutely out of this world and there could have been no higher possible praise. In an hour, they managed to not even mention the word “bribery” even once. Naturally, there were also a number of previous offenders who collaborated in discussing the “greatness” of Craxi. I worked out that between them they have served about ten years of prison time, including Martelli, Carra, De Michelis, Di Donato, Pomicino, amounting to 10 years of prison time, plus another 10 years that Craxi had accumulated. Then there were also a number of unconvicted people, just for a change you understand, who added their bit, two from the Communist Party who should be proud of the difference between the Berlinguer-ites and the Caxians, but who were instead extremely apologetic for the fact that their party had opposed Craxi. One of these was Ranieri, who is trying to sidle up to Napolitano and is attempting to become Mayor of Naples, while the other was Petruccioli, former President of the dormant RAI. This just goes to show the disparity that there is between the reality in this Country, which is fortunately represented by the demonstrators in Piazza Craxi in Lissone, and the Country of the politicians, or “the bunker” as we at Il Fatto Quotidiano have called it, which is increasingly drawing in upon itself as their world crumbles around them, almost signalling the end of the world, or certainly at least the end of the Second Republic.
Craxi beatified, Berlusconi saved
The fact that Craxi is being beatified instead of being left to rest in peace 11 years on from his death makes one wonder why they are so determined in their attempts to overturn final criminal convictions, to eulogise the only politician in Italian history to ever have died while on the run? They are obviously not doing this for Craxi’s sake, after all, no one except his closet relatives really gives a damn about him. No, they’re doing it solely for the living, they eulogise Craxi in an attempt to legitimise the same behaviours exhibited by the living. So, if Craxi was a saint, then so is Berlusconi! After all, in the bars they are saying that both these men love women, they are both somewhat gung-ho with money and both are larger than life personalities. Just look at how the media has handled the matter of the investigation in the so-called Ruby case and you will realise immediately that this is heading in the same direction. Last week I said that “no one gives a damn about what Berlusconi does between the bed sheets in his own home, as long as no crime is being committed between those bed sheets and as long as no other crime is being committed in order to conceal the one committed between the bed sheets, in which case the guilty must be put on trial”. So what did they do? The arsecreeping lackeys of the company newspapers even got together at Arcore to discuss the party line, namely that laid down by Alfonso Signorini who is the most intelligent of the bunch, especially considering some of the others, like Sallusti, etc., so in that company, Signorini has an excellent mind and is very capable in terms of managing this kind of material, at least according to Chi, a magazine read by hundreds of thousands of poorly informed people, but why? Well, precisely because they read Chi. On the other hand, he also presents a television programme on Channel 5 and there he proceeds to haul out Berlusconi’s fiancée whose identity has, unsurprisingly, never been revealed, perhaps because they’re still looking for her. The reason for that is that they need to find some or other woman who is prepared to come out and say openly that she is Berlusconi’s fiancée and to confirm all these things without laughing uncontrollably, so they haven’t yet found anyone. They are busy holding auditions, but as yet they have been unable to find a woman who is prepared to state that she is Berlusconi’s fiancée without bursting out laughing!
Furthermore, she must not be an escort-girl, because that would not do any good. Imagine an escort-girl saying: I am Berlusconi’s girlfriend, I attend the parties but I swear I’m nota n escort-girl. If she were an escort-girl, no one would believe a word she says, so in fact they were searching for someone suitable amongst a number of Bulgarian and Russian women , who also cost less by the way, but they didn’t find anyone suitable even there, so the search goes on but, meanwhile, the search for Berlusconi’s fiancée has been an excellent weapon of mass distraction because that mindless part of the Italian population that sees this whole thing as an episode from a soap-opera and that have no idea whatsoever what it is all about or, for that matter, the seriousness of the situation, have all immediately fallen for the trick concerning Berlusconi’s fiancée hook, line and sinker … big headlines in Libero, in Il Giornale, which are later taken up by the editorials, and so they draw the people’s attention away from the crux of the scandal and keeping them focussed on the sideline issues of the fiancées, the gossip, the ones that say: Man! He has 20 or 30 of them at a time! What a man!. Even Belpietro said it just the other night! In this regard, I think you know why a number of girls tell the pitiful story of these queues standing in front of the Cavaliere’s bedroom door, “Next”, every five minutes, just like tat the clinic with the number in hand, like at the post office, and we’re not talking about a great lover here, this is merely a man who has had certain problems, an operation, a reconstruction and that 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes obviously point to a problem, a pathological problem and not a great lover worthy of boasting on television, yet still they say: See? He has 20 or 30 girls a night, what a man! Other people are envious of him. Can you believe to what level the Italia media have sunk?
These are red herrings merely designed to draw attention to the least important of the issues, namely that of the sex that goes on at Arcore, which would only be of interest in one sense, namely whether or not that sex involved an underage girl and whether that sex was paid for, in which case it would constitute the crime of sexual relations with a minor. As for the rest, how many girls he has, assuming of course that he is still able to “have them” at all, to use the term preferred by those “Shakespeares” of his, or whether their breasts are exposed or not, whether or not they strip, short skirts, tight skirts, panties, g-strings, bras really makes no difference whatsoever, the only issue is whether or not there were underage girls present. Did he or did he not have sex with underage girls? Did he or did he not pay them for sex? If this is not the case, then no crime has been committed and, therefore, he is right in claiming that whatever may go on in his own house, it is entirely his own business, as long as no crime was committed and that it cannot be proven that he paid underage girls for sex and that no crime was committed in order to conceal the fact, because then even his private life becomes of public interest, albeit secondary, but why? Well, because the main issue here is still glossed over by the newspaper headlines and the television programmes, other than Anno Zero that is, namely the extortion that occurred on the night of 27th May, but why? Well, because there is no place to hide in this regard. What happened is well documented and there’s no testimony from a well-paid pimp that can deny the documentary evidence in question. Berlusconi is busy paying off all of those girls, so much so that it is becoming extremely difficult to understand whether he is paying them for services rendered at his house or for providing the Prosecutors with perjured testimony!
Thanks to the efforts of that stalwart journalist, Marco Lillo, Il Fatto Quotidiano has documented payments made up to last Monday, up to one week ago in other words, and so even after the scandal broke in all the newspapers, including a payment made to a certain Ms. Sorcinelli, while she were already talking to the investigators. Ongoing payments that went on for months and amounting to a total of 115-thousand Euro in less than a year, a very healthy managerial salary you might say. The last payment of 10-thousand Euro having been made just last Monday, after she had already spoken to the investigators. Is this another repeat of the Mills case or are these also payments for the Bunga Bunga parties? Who knows, but it is certainly interesting to note that the individual under investigation pays the witness both during and after she has testified before the investigators. But there’s nowhere to hide as regards the matter of what happened at the Police Station, but why? Well, because all telephone calls to the Police Station are recorded, and then there are the police reports detailing the course of events, so what does he do? Well he gets Piero Colaprico to do an article on what happened at the Police Station, in an attempt to shift attention to the issue of the International problem of underage prostitution, meanwhile, the main legal issue here for the Prosecutors is the extortion. While a conviction on charges of underage prostitution carries a penalty of 4 years imprisonment, that of extortion carries a maximum penalty of 12 years.
Piero Colaprico writes: “Corso Buenos Aires, 19h13, Hermes C. (a policeman) attempts to use the 113 service that records all calls to contact the child protection Prosecutor on duty, namely Anna Maria Fiorillo, to inform her of the arrest of Ruby, who had just been picked up in response to a complaint by a friend that Ruby had just stolen a few thousand Euro from her.
While waiting to be connected to Ms. Fiorillo, the policeman says to Ruby: “then I’m going to break your legs the next time I find you out on the streets”. Ruby is heard in the background, saying: “then I will come and have sex with you”. The policeman says: “no way you are going anywhere with me”. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor on duty, namely Ms. Fiorillo, arrives and the policeman explains that the girl is Moroccan, underage, who has escaped from a shelter and is accused of a theft in Milan, that she has no fixed abode and no identity documents. Ms. Fiorillo says: “could you ask the girl how she paid her rent?” in order to try to work out what she did for a living and if she at least had a steady job. The policeman agrees and asks the girl “how did you earn enough to pay your rent?” and the tells Ms. Fiorillo that: “she says that she works as a belly dancer at a number of Milan clubs”. Ms. Fiorillo says: “Oh, I get it, a belly dancer, we are not in the habit of letting underage girls go around doing this, yes, tell her that I don’t believe that she will be able to stay in Italy. She will soon come of age and if she continues the way she is going she will be expelled from the Country, unless she’s willing to enter an education program”, in other words, she must stop running away and wasting our time.
Policeman: “the computer records reveal a previous arrest for theft”. Fiorillo: “so you see, this is a wild one, so place her in a shelter, hoping that there is still one open at this time, but if they can’t take her – it’s already 19h30 – is there is any shelter that is open and that can take her, etc, then take her there” “if they won’t take her then I authorise you to hold her in custody until tomorrow morning when the emergency care service opens and can take in, there is a municipal emergency care service that finds shelters that are able to take in underage girls in trouble or to trace the girl’s father”. Up to this point, the procedures were followed to the letter, because that is precisely what happens in such cases. Obviously no one was aware of Berlusconi’s shadow behind this girl, so they were dealing with Ruby as they would have dealt with any other underage girl in this situation, namely underage girls arrested, with no fixed abode, without any identity document and without a job. They are either placed in a shelter or held at the Police Station.
These procedures work and things are always done this way. Still via the 113 service, at 20h43 the policeman advises the Police Chief on duty at the Police Station, Dr Giorgia Iafrate, who already knows the drill: “we’ll hold her here until tomorrow morning and then we’ll find a shelter for her” says Dr. Iafrate, so the policeman says: “please note that this is a little slip of a girl”, at which point Ruby starts arguing with the policeman, objecting to being labelled as ”a slip of a girl” and the policeman says: “I wasn’t being nasty, just calm down”. Dr. Iafrate intervenes by saying: “but why, what is this little girl wearing?”. Policeman: “a skimpy top, jeans and nothing else”. Ruby was somewhat underdressed, so the police had the right to take her to pick up some other clothes at the house of the friend that was hosting her, Michelle Consesao, who also happens to be a Brazilian prostitute. However, in the meantime, Michelle goes into a flat spin, so what does she do? She calls Berlusconi’s accountant, Giuseppe Spinelli, as well as Silvino Berlusconi. This Brazilian prostitute who lives in the vicinity of Corso Buenos Aires has the private cell phone number of Berlusconi, who happens to be in Paris on Government business at the time, but he doesn’t take the call because he was busy having dinner with other guests.
Berlusconi’s extortion
So she sends an SMS, by now it was 23h49, and while policeman Landolfi was busy trying to find a shelter that could take Ruby in, along comes Berlusconi’s telephone call. Colaprico writes that: Now everyone knows that Ruby was at the Police Station in Milan, a rather disturbing event at that, . Now everyone knows, so you can just imagine the confusion at the Police Station, what with Berlusconi’s telephone call from Paris and all the rest, they must have felt like the world was falling around their ears! In such situations all sorts of things can go through your mind, except that he was phoning about Ruby. We read in Police Chief Pietro Ostuni’s report that: “the Premier told me that the police station was holding a young girl of north-African descent and that he was told that she is Mubarak’s grand-daughter and that a Parliamentary Councillor by the name of Mrs. Minetti would come and take custody of the girl”. In reality, Ms. Minetti is herself a former showgirl and now a Regional Councillor that Berlusconi falsely referred to as Parliamentary Councillor and that he had told to go and pick Ruby up. Ms. Minetti would apparently take custody of the girl and look after her and that’s how the telephone call ended. At this point it is clear that Berlusconi knew only too well that the girl was underage, otherwise he would not have taken the trouble to send someone to take custody of her. If she had come of age, and they decided to release her, there would not have been any need for anyone to take custody of her since adults are responsible for themselves.
A fleet of telephone calls from Ostini then begins to rain down upon this newly qualified Policewoman Iafratti and Ostuni begins to harass Iafratti. From Police Chief Vincenzo Indolfi’s official report, we read that “I became concerned about whether or not this underage girl’s case had been handled properly. The fact that the Prime Minister told a lie was not so important to me”. So the Police Chief of Milan reports that The Prime Minister lied when he said that Ruby was Mubarak’s grand-daughter, and thereby hinted that this could lead to an International incident, upset the entire Police Station, causing them to do something that they would not otherwise have done if there had been no telephone call, but why? Well, because everything was proceeding as normal in such cases, in other words, either the girl would have been placed in a shelter or she would have remained at the Police Station until she could be placed in a shelter.
Indolfi says: “The fact that Berlusconi lied to us was neither here nor there as far as I’m concerned, I merely wanted to make sure that the proper procedures had been followed”. However, from that moment on, nothing went according to plan. A fax was sent to a shelter in Sicily, one of the shelters where she had previously stayed. But the cops’ report tells a different story. Ruby was released at 02h00, accompanied by Ms. Minetti who, instead of taking care of the girl as Berlusconi stated she would, simply dumped her onto Michelle Consesao, thus putting her back in the hands of another prostitute, and Berlusconi says: “I stepped in to save this girl”! In other words, to save her from the Police, Berlusconi has Minetti deliver her to a prostitute, what a great rescue that is! They simply put her back on the streets! To save her from the Police, not from prostitution, they send her back to work as a prostitute, the Prime Minister and an appointed Regional Councillor, or so-called parliamentary councillor!
So while Ruby was released into Ms. Minetti’s custody at 02h00, back at the Police Station they continued to track her identity, which they should have done prior to re leasing her. Finally, at 4am they managed to trace her parents who live in a ?Letojanni? in Messina Province if I’m not mistaken. Upon being unceremoniously pulled out of bed, her parents state that they don’t have their daughter’s identity document and they say that they are in no way related to Mubarak. No surprise there since they are Moroccan and Mubarak is President of Egypt!
Another little-known detail is that when Ms. Bocassini and the other Prosecutors questioned Ostuni, they asked: “Why does this report make no mention of the telephone call from the Prime Minister, nor of the lie that was told to the policemen?” Colaprico notes that Ostuni could not answer and couldn’t account for this fact, so the report was incomplete, but if anyone else had dreamed up such a lie, what police action would have resulted? Was it perhaps his position as the Head of Government that enabled Berlusconi to get something that is not granted to us mere mortals?
Obviously this is the problem. The facts are what they are, this much we understand. The Police Station did something that they would never have done were it not for Berlusconi’s phone call. The other night on television, Belpietro, who knows absolutely nothing about the law, said that: “If there was indeed any collusion, then the Prosecutors should charge the Police Officials who released Ruby prior to having confirmed her real identity and countermanding the orders given by the Prosecutor on duty. If they didn’t incriminate these officials the nit means that everything occurred as normal, and if everything occurred as normal, the nit means that there was no extortion by Berlusconi. Extortion is when one individual threatens another in order to get him/her to do something he/she shouldn’t do, so if there was nothing untoward done, then there was obviously no extortion.
The problem is that the crime of extortion is not committed by both the extortionist and the victim. The extortionist is the one committing the crime, while the individual being threatened is the victim and if he/she is forced to do something he/she shouldn’t do, then he/she is a victim and should not be prosecuted. It’s exactly the same situation as someone who pays protection money to the mafia, where the conclusion is the extortion committed by a public official. If I as a mafioso force a trader to pay me protection money and the trader gives me money, thus funding a mafia member, what is that? Aiding and abetting the Mafia? Yet he does not get punished, but why? Well, because he acted under extreme pressure, so he/she is a victim. That’s why the police officers that were pressured are not being prosecuted for re leasing Ruby.
These are the facts that demonstrate monumental abuse of power and a judge must decide whether or not a crime has been committed, however, we can nevertheless say that it was abuse of power since we have a blow-by-blow account of exactly what happened that night. This abuse of power constitutes sufficient grounds for the Milan Prosecution to take action. The next question is whether or not this was a ministerial crime? Be very careful here because this can easily turn into a play on words, but the situation is actually very clear indeed. A Ministerial crime is different from a normal crime, but why? Well, because in the case of a ministerial crime, prior authorisation is required from Parliament in order to prosecute the perpetrator, that’s because in order for any member of the Premier’s Government or other Minister to be prosecuted for any crimes committed whilst carrying out their official duties, permission to proceed must first be obtained from Parliament and, given that we know exactly who is in Parliament, there would be no trial since Parliament would most certainly deny permission for the Ministerial Court to try Berlusconi who they will rule was merely carrying out his duties according to the Constitution.
But what does “carrying out his duties” actually mean? It means doing that which is required of a Prime Minister, but does that include phoning Police Stations and telling them what to do with underage Moroccan girls arrested for theft, without fixed abode, with no identity documents, etc.? No, this is certainly not amongst the Prime Minister’s official duties. Now I don’t know if it perhaps falls within the scope of the duties of the Minister for Internal Affairs, I don’t believe so, but it is certainly not the Prime Minister’s duty, not in his official capacity anyway, and when he made that telephone call, he didn’t say “I’m Joe Soap”, he said “I’m the Prime Minister and it’s obvious that he phoned in his official capacity, so what now? So it’s no longer classified as abuse of power because that’s not part of his job. It’s now called abuse of office. He abused his position as Prime Minister , so it’s no longer a matter requiring permission to proceed, in which case he would have been safe because such permission would undoubtedly have been denied. Instead, he abused the Office of Prime Minister in order to do something that is certainly not part of his job, even though he did so as the incumbent Prime Minister, otherwise he would not have frightened anyone into doing anything, get it? If I, as a magistrate or a policeman, go into a restaurant and say “give me a free meal or I will arrest you” and it is obviously within your powers to arrest someone, then I’m abusing my official powers.
If, instead, as a policeman I walk into a shop and say give me money otherwise I’ll clout you, clouting someone is not within my powers as policeman, so now do you understand the fine distinction at play here?
So there is no doubt that this does not qualify as a Ministerial crime and, as a normal crime, the jurisdiction lies with the Milan Court, without any permission required from Parliament.
Finally, what happens next? The question is will they or won’t they prosecute him? How can he get away with it? How can he wangle his way out of this one? What is the story with the expedited proceedings, what could happen? I conclude by explaining what could happen now.
The Milan Prosecution has asked for the expedited procedure, or rather they have announced that they will be applying for the expedited procedure, as contemplated in Art. 453 of the Criminal Code and Procedure, which provides for an immediate trial in the case of extreme urgency, but when and where does this apply? Well, it applies when the Prosecution has such indisputable proof that the normal preliminary steps, like preliminary hearings, etc. become irrelevant. The case goes straight to trial based on all the evidence that has been gathered, so the case immediately goes before the appointed judge.
Expedited prosecution for Berlusconi
When the evidence is apparently overwhelming, an expedited trial can be requested once the person under investigation has been questioned regarding the overwhelming evidence, or after the individual has failed to appear after being summonsed, subject to legitimate impediment, or where the person is untraceable, so what did the Prosecution do? They summonsed Berlusconi to appear whenever it suited him anytime between Friday and Sunday, namely the 21/22/23 January. He failed to appear, even on the Sunday and there did not appear to be any legitimate impediment. At that point they said: okay, you have chosen not to come in for questioning, the conditions have been met, we believe that the evidence we have against you is overwhelming, so now the third and last requirement is that the Prosecutors must formulate their charges within 90 days after the registration of the crime. Berlusconi name was entered into the register on 21 December, so the Prosecutors have until 21 March to lodge their application for an expedited trial with the Preliminary Investigations Magistrate. One month has already passed, so the Prosecutors still have two months to lodge their application, at which point the Preliminary Investigations Magistrate may grant the request if he feels that the grounds are sufficient and thus remand Berlusconi for immediate trial.
Within five days after submission of the request, the judge must either issue a decree providing for immediate trial and order that the documentation be sent to the Prosecution, or decide that there are insufficient grounds for an immediate trial and order that the normal prosecution process be used, including preliminary hearings and the usual remand for trial or absolution. The Decree issued must also specify that the accused can ask for an expedited trial or try to plea-bargain, which would mean that everything is done entirely in chambers, behind closed doors, without any television cameras, without any journalists and without any witnesses, so what happens is that the trial will be based entirely on the available documentation, there is not much discussion at all and plea-bargains can be struck, however, I doubt very much whether Berlusconi would ever agree to a plea-bargain, that’s the last thing on his mind!
Once an expedited trial has been arranged, the proceeding take place in Court according to the same rules as a normal trial, except that everything is done more quickly, skipping the preliminary hearings and the submission of evidence. At this point, however, they are claiming that the Milan Court doesn’t have jurisdiction because Arcore falls under Monza. Besides the fact that the Monza Court’s jurisdiction does not extend to underage prostitution cases, for which the District Prosecutions have jurisdiction, in this case the Milan Prosecution, the events that took place at the Police Station fall squarely under the jurisdiction of the Milan Court, so their only hope is to get the case handed over to the Ministerial Court, but there is no way that this case can be handed over to the Ministerial Court, but why? Well, because neither Berlusconi nor Ghedini can get the case moved to the Ministerial Court, only the Prosecution can do that and they’ve already made it clear that this was not a Ministerial crime in their opinion.. Furthermore, I forgot to mention that constitutional Law No. 1/1991 stipulates that for a crime to be classified as a Ministerial crime, it must have been committed in the significant interests of the State, in other words, in order to further the aims of public interest, that’s what constitutional law No. 1, dated 16 January 1991, states that governs ministerial crimes. You can imagine if underage prostitution or telephone calls to a Police Station to demand someone’s release, bypassing normal procedures, could ever be covered by such a law. It has to have been done in the Public interest, and in this case it was more like Pubic interest than Public Interest!
So there is no possible reason, or for that matter any other way by which Berlusconi could get his case heard in the Ministerial Court, so what else can he do? He has already threatened to raise an issue of a conflict of interests between the judiciary and the State before the Constitutional Court, citing the Milan judges that are refusing to allow the case to be heard in the Ministerial Court, some may say: but if Berlusconi or his attorneys use their parliamentary majority to force the issue and drag the Milan judges before the Constitutional Committee for refusing to allow the case to be heard by the Ministerial Court, then what will come of this case? Well, there would be no valid grounds for the Constitutional Committee to rule on such a patently bullshit claim anyway, but given the slow pace at which the Constitutional Committee operates, irrespective of whether they find for Chamber of Deputies or for the Milan judges, what would happen in the meantime as regards the expedited trial? Does it continue or is it suspended? Because if Berlusconi somehow manages to get his conflict of power claim to stop the trial for the next two years, then so much for expedited trials and so it’s back to square one!
Fortunately for us, however, such a claim before the Constitutional Committee would not hold up or suspend the expedited trial, which would continue in any event. It’s already happened before with conflict of poker claims against the Milan Prosecution in the Abu Omar case, yet the trial continues and it stops just short of handing down sentence in order to await the ruling of the Constitutional Court, so Berlusconi’s case will go ahead anyway, even if the conflict of powers issue is raised and only the final ruling will be withheld until the Constitutional Court has reached its decision.
I hope I have managed to clarify the issue for you, so let’s just say that this time it really looks as if Berlusconi is balls to the wall, barring any other tricks that neither we nor Berlusconi have thought about yet and he will have to defend himself, not against allegations but against facts, starting with what he really did that night at the Police Station.
Good day to you all.. Salvatore Cuffaro, former Governor of Sicily, republican parliamentarian elected on the UDC ticket and who then switched to Berlusconi’s side on one of the supported nomination lists in recent months has been in jail since last Saturday to begin serving a final 7-year sentence for aggravated aiding and abetting the Cosa Nostra. He was found guilty of having tipped-off a known and previously convicted mafioso like come Giuseppe Guttadauro, the Boss of Brancaccio, as well as a businessman with suspected mafia links and convicted together with him, namely Aiello, about the fact that they were under investigation and under surveillance. In other words, for having aided and abetted their attempt to escape the ongoing investigation against them by the Palermo Prosecutors.
Cuffaro in prison
Certainly an extremely serious crime, this. A Governor, the Head of the Sicilian Regional Administration who helps an already convicted mafia boss and another who was later convicted to evade or at least try to evade an official investigation and warns them about the fact that they are under investigation and under surveillance, what next? … We never found out who told Cuffaro in the first place but the fact remains that since the other day it has been officially confirmed that he took that news and passed it straight on to the two mafiosi.
One previously convicted and the other soon to be convicted, those are the facts. It raised many eyebrows and created quite a stir to see a serving parliamentarian going into Rebibbia Prison because, as far as anyone can remember, in recent times and indeed in recent decades, the last time anything like this was seen was when Previti was taken into Rebibbia Prison to serve out a 7 and a half year sentence following his twin convictions for having bribed judges, namely in the Mondadori case and then the Mills case. However, thanks to a partial official pardon, and to a letter that she had got from Berlusconi, the former Ms. Cirielli landed up serving only 3 years of the 7 and a half year sentence in jail, with the rest being served under house arrest and even in the care of social services, in other words, in total freedom.
Compared to Previti, Cuffaro instead has a major problem because, although their sentences are much of a muchness, Previti 7,5 years and Cuffaro 7-years, tank to article 7 concerning aggravating circumstances, Cuffaro’s crime is not subject to the partial pardon, so he won’t get that 3-year discount. Therefore, Cuffaro has no hope of serving only four years of that sentence, which, with additional benefits, etc, would drop quickly to 3 years, the threshold under which the sentence can be served under the auspices of social services. As a result, unless they change the law, he will have to serve at least the first 4 years of his 7-year sentence actually in jail. Obviously his career is over, but it doesn’t end there. Within the next few days the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Palermo Court should be handing down his ruling in the other case in which the Prosecution brought charges of associating with the mafia, meaning that his aiding and abetting was not in fact a sporadic occurrence, but that this man was a politician permanently at the service of the Cosa Nostra.
And his old mentor, Mannino, did him absolutely no favours yesterday when, in an interview with a daily newspaper, he remembered how pissed off he had been when he found out that Cuffaro had approached Angelo Siino, a mafia representative on the tender allocation committee and who thus controlled a large block of votes, to ask for his votes for Mannino.
Obviously it is never a nice thing to see someone land up in jail, it’s not good news that amongst the current 70-thousand odd prison inmates, yes it’s already up there at 70-thousand, there is even one of our politicians, politicians who should be serving the interests of the people, but at least one crooked politician has landed up in the clink to serve out his sentence. It is also very sad to see how many people, many of them perhaps in good faith, have complimented Cuffaro on his restraint because he didn’t proceed to rant and rave against the magistrates and because he handed himself in for prosecution, especially since no such complements have been paid to the other 70-thousand inmates currently sitting in the Country’s prisons, many of whom have done much the same sort of thing and also did not rant and rave about any judicial plots, the politicisation of the judiciary and bullshit like that.
There is another interesting question, however, and one that we will leave to the people of the centre-left to ask, those that want to join up with Casini at all costs. What does UDC leader Casini have to say about this conviction? Some of you may well remember a certain video clip that is doing the rounds on YouTube, indeed you may want to trace that clip and link it to our Passaparola. Casini appeared on Anno Zero to create a scene, cap on his head and Michele Santoro asked him: are you prepared to swear to Cuffaro’s innocence? Casini said: Yes! He then went on to add that although he would not nominate for election anyone who was under investigation or under suspicion, except for Cuffaro, on whose innocence he was personally prepared to bet. He was prepared to personally stand by Cuffaro, an understandable position for a party leader rallying to the aid of a party member who was, after all, still deemed to be innocent at the time. However, when one backs an ally so forcefully and put’s one’s own reputation on the line, one can get badly burned, so the question now is whether or not Casini will ever be called to account for his poor judgement in backing a man who is now in jail for aiding and abetting the mafia?
What we really need is the kind of media that would be prepared to put these questions to Casini, but unfortunately that will never happen, so all we can hope is that he will once again appear on Anno Zero where Santoro, or someone else on his behalf, can call Casini to account by asking: do you remember standing up for Cuffaro? What now? Please explain! Instead, Casini can now even wipe his hands of the matter since Cuffaro was not even a member of the UDC when he went to jail, because although he was elected under the UDC banner he then chose to go with Berlusconi, who is a renowned collector of convicted criminals and gets jealous when he sees one in another party and wants him at all costs!
Another bit of good news is what happened just the other day at Lissone, near Monza. The Pdl-aligned Mayor, together with Stefania Craxi, inaugurated a town square, Piazza Bettino Craxi, on the 11th anniversary of the man’s death. Fortunately, in this day and age such things can no longer be done hush-hush because the Web is merciless and you can find out anything you want if you just go looking for it, so Piero Ricca, members of the general public and Italia dei Valori activists went along to that inauguration, where they began to shout out loud precisely what Craxi was, namely a thief, a criminal and an escapee, so much so that the ceremony that was due to be held in the town square itself had to be hurriedly moved to a theatre because Mrs. Craxi and her buddies had to make a run for it and go and hide. Meanwhile, back in the square, the name plate proclaiming “Piazza Craxi” was being replaced with a cardboard sign proclaiming “Piazza Sandro Pertini - President of all Italians”. He too was a socialist but, surprise surprise, no one remembers him because he was honest and therefore not deemed to be a good example, whereas the most remembered socialist ever also happens to be that man that single-handedly destroyed the socialist party, namely Craxi. Thank heavens for the Web, because it means that certain things can longer simply pass by unnoticed and there will always be someone to intervene, raise the alarm and draw the battle lines and as long as there is someone, even just one individual who says enough is enough, there is hope for everyone else.
Talking about Craxi, some of you - I hope very few because it takes real guts and courage – may have watched the horrendous funeral march broadcast last night on Tv7, which is the weekly version of the TG1 directed by Augusto “Minzolingua”. An horrendous seditious documentary presented by a former socialist director who has just been appointed as Director of the Mercadante Theatre in Naples by the new socialist and also berlusconian governor Caldoro. This director, I think his name is De Fusco, put together something that was so laudatory that I think even the Craxians were embarrassed, in which Craxi was compared with the likes of Jesus Christ, the stoned adulteress, Oedipus, Colonno, Antigone and Prometheus. It was something absolutely out of this world and there could have been no higher possible praise. In an hour, they managed to not even mention the word “bribery” even once. Naturally, there were also a number of previous offenders who collaborated in discussing the “greatness” of Craxi. I worked out that between them they have served about ten years of prison time, including Martelli, Carra, De Michelis, Di Donato, Pomicino, amounting to 10 years of prison time, plus another 10 years that Craxi had accumulated. Then there were also a number of unconvicted people, just for a change you understand, who added their bit, two from the Communist Party who should be proud of the difference between the Berlinguer-ites and the Caxians, but who were instead extremely apologetic for the fact that their party had opposed Craxi. One of these was Ranieri, who is trying to sidle up to Napolitano and is attempting to become Mayor of Naples, while the other was Petruccioli, former President of the dormant RAI. This just goes to show the disparity that there is between the reality in this Country, which is fortunately represented by the demonstrators in Piazza Craxi in Lissone, and the Country of the politicians, or “the bunker” as we at Il Fatto Quotidiano have called it, which is increasingly drawing in upon itself as their world crumbles around them, almost signalling the end of the world, or certainly at least the end of the Second Republic.
Craxi beatified, Berlusconi saved
The fact that Craxi is being beatified instead of being left to rest in peace 11 years on from his death makes one wonder why they are so determined in their attempts to overturn final criminal convictions, to eulogise the only politician in Italian history to ever have died while on the run? They are obviously not doing this for Craxi’s sake, after all, no one except his closet relatives really gives a damn about him. No, they’re doing it solely for the living, they eulogise Craxi in an attempt to legitimise the same behaviours exhibited by the living. So, if Craxi was a saint, then so is Berlusconi! After all, in the bars they are saying that both these men love women, they are both somewhat gung-ho with money and both are larger than life personalities. Just look at how the media has handled the matter of the investigation in the so-called Ruby case and you will realise immediately that this is heading in the same direction. Last week I said that “no one gives a damn about what Berlusconi does between the bed sheets in his own home, as long as no crime is being committed between those bed sheets and as long as no other crime is being committed in order to conceal the one committed between the bed sheets, in which case the guilty must be put on trial”. So what did they do? The arsecreeping lackeys of the company newspapers even got together at Arcore to discuss the party line, namely that laid down by Alfonso Signorini who is the most intelligent of the bunch, especially considering some of the others, like Sallusti, etc., so in that company, Signorini has an excellent mind and is very capable in terms of managing this kind of material, at least according to Chi, a magazine read by hundreds of thousands of poorly informed people, but why? Well, precisely because they read Chi. On the other hand, he also presents a television programme on Channel 5 and there he proceeds to haul out Berlusconi’s fiancée whose identity has, unsurprisingly, never been revealed, perhaps because they’re still looking for her. The reason for that is that they need to find some or other woman who is prepared to come out and say openly that she is Berlusconi’s fiancée and to confirm all these things without laughing uncontrollably, so they haven’t yet found anyone. They are busy holding auditions, but as yet they have been unable to find a woman who is prepared to state that she is Berlusconi’s fiancée without bursting out laughing!
Furthermore, she must not be an escort-girl, because that would not do any good. Imagine an escort-girl saying: I am Berlusconi’s girlfriend, I attend the parties but I swear I’m nota n escort-girl. If she were an escort-girl, no one would believe a word she says, so in fact they were searching for someone suitable amongst a number of Bulgarian and Russian women , who also cost less by the way, but they didn’t find anyone suitable even there, so the search goes on but, meanwhile, the search for Berlusconi’s fiancée has been an excellent weapon of mass distraction because that mindless part of the Italian population that sees this whole thing as an episode from a soap-opera and that have no idea whatsoever what it is all about or, for that matter, the seriousness of the situation, have all immediately fallen for the trick concerning Berlusconi’s fiancée hook, line and sinker … big headlines in Libero, in Il Giornale, which are later taken up by the editorials, and so they draw the people’s attention away from the crux of the scandal and keeping them focussed on the sideline issues of the fiancées, the gossip, the ones that say: Man! He has 20 or 30 of them at a time! What a man!. Even Belpietro said it just the other night! In this regard, I think you know why a number of girls tell the pitiful story of these queues standing in front of the Cavaliere’s bedroom door, “Next”, every five minutes, just like tat the clinic with the number in hand, like at the post office, and we’re not talking about a great lover here, this is merely a man who has had certain problems, an operation, a reconstruction and that 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes obviously point to a problem, a pathological problem and not a great lover worthy of boasting on television, yet still they say: See? He has 20 or 30 girls a night, what a man! Other people are envious of him. Can you believe to what level the Italia media have sunk?
These are red herrings merely designed to draw attention to the least important of the issues, namely that of the sex that goes on at Arcore, which would only be of interest in one sense, namely whether or not that sex involved an underage girl and whether that sex was paid for, in which case it would constitute the crime of sexual relations with a minor. As for the rest, how many girls he has, assuming of course that he is still able to “have them” at all, to use the term preferred by those “Shakespeares” of his, or whether their breasts are exposed or not, whether or not they strip, short skirts, tight skirts, panties, g-strings, bras really makes no difference whatsoever, the only issue is whether or not there were underage girls present. Did he or did he not have sex with underage girls? Did he or did he not pay them for sex? If this is not the case, then no crime has been committed and, therefore, he is right in claiming that whatever may go on in his own house, it is entirely his own business, as long as no crime was committed and that it cannot be proven that he paid underage girls for sex and that no crime was committed in order to conceal the fact, because then even his private life becomes of public interest, albeit secondary, but why? Well, because the main issue here is still glossed over by the newspaper headlines and the television programmes, other than Anno Zero that is, namely the extortion that occurred on the night of 27th May, but why? Well, because there is no place to hide in this regard. What happened is well documented and there’s no testimony from a well-paid pimp that can deny the documentary evidence in question. Berlusconi is busy paying off all of those girls, so much so that it is becoming extremely difficult to understand whether he is paying them for services rendered at his house or for providing the Prosecutors with perjured testimony!
Thanks to the efforts of that stalwart journalist, Marco Lillo, Il Fatto Quotidiano has documented payments made up to last Monday, up to one week ago in other words, and so even after the scandal broke in all the newspapers, including a payment made to a certain Ms. Sorcinelli, while she were already talking to the investigators. Ongoing payments that went on for months and amounting to a total of 115-thousand Euro in less than a year, a very healthy managerial salary you might say. The last payment of 10-thousand Euro having been made just last Monday, after she had already spoken to the investigators. Is this another repeat of the Mills case or are these also payments for the Bunga Bunga parties? Who knows, but it is certainly interesting to note that the individual under investigation pays the witness both during and after she has testified before the investigators. But there’s nowhere to hide as regards the matter of what happened at the Police Station, but why? Well, because all telephone calls to the Police Station are recorded, and then there are the police reports detailing the course of events, so what does he do? Well he gets Piero Colaprico to do an article on what happened at the Police Station, in an attempt to shift attention to the issue of the International problem of underage prostitution, meanwhile, the main legal issue here for the Prosecutors is the extortion. While a conviction on charges of underage prostitution carries a penalty of 4 years imprisonment, that of extortion carries a maximum penalty of 12 years.
Piero Colaprico writes: “Corso Buenos Aires, 19h13, Hermes C. (a policeman) attempts to use the 113 service that records all calls to contact the child protection Prosecutor on duty, namely Anna Maria Fiorillo, to inform her of the arrest of Ruby, who had just been picked up in response to a complaint by a friend that Ruby had just stolen a few thousand Euro from her.
While waiting to be connected to Ms. Fiorillo, the policeman says to Ruby: “then I’m going to break your legs the next time I find you out on the streets”. Ruby is heard in the background, saying: “then I will come and have sex with you”. The policeman says: “no way you are going anywhere with me”. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor on duty, namely Ms. Fiorillo, arrives and the policeman explains that the girl is Moroccan, underage, who has escaped from a shelter and is accused of a theft in Milan, that she has no fixed abode and no identity documents. Ms. Fiorillo says: “could you ask the girl how she paid her rent?” in order to try to work out what she did for a living and if she at least had a steady job. The policeman agrees and asks the girl “how did you earn enough to pay your rent?” and the tells Ms. Fiorillo that: “she says that she works as a belly dancer at a number of Milan clubs”. Ms. Fiorillo says: “Oh, I get it, a belly dancer, we are not in the habit of letting underage girls go around doing this, yes, tell her that I don’t believe that she will be able to stay in Italy. She will soon come of age and if she continues the way she is going she will be expelled from the Country, unless she’s willing to enter an education program”, in other words, she must stop running away and wasting our time.
Policeman: “the computer records reveal a previous arrest for theft”. Fiorillo: “so you see, this is a wild one, so place her in a shelter, hoping that there is still one open at this time, but if they can’t take her – it’s already 19h30 – is there is any shelter that is open and that can take her, etc, then take her there” “if they won’t take her then I authorise you to hold her in custody until tomorrow morning when the emergency care service opens and can take in, there is a municipal emergency care service that finds shelters that are able to take in underage girls in trouble or to trace the girl’s father”. Up to this point, the procedures were followed to the letter, because that is precisely what happens in such cases. Obviously no one was aware of Berlusconi’s shadow behind this girl, so they were dealing with Ruby as they would have dealt with any other underage girl in this situation, namely underage girls arrested, with no fixed abode, without any identity document and without a job. They are either placed in a shelter or held at the Police Station.
These procedures work and things are always done this way. Still via the 113 service, at 20h43 the policeman advises the Police Chief on duty at the Police Station, Dr Giorgia Iafrate, who already knows the drill: “we’ll hold her here until tomorrow morning and then we’ll find a shelter for her” says Dr. Iafrate, so the policeman says: “please note that this is a little slip of a girl”, at which point Ruby starts arguing with the policeman, objecting to being labelled as ”a slip of a girl” and the policeman says: “I wasn’t being nasty, just calm down”. Dr. Iafrate intervenes by saying: “but why, what is this little girl wearing?”. Policeman: “a skimpy top, jeans and nothing else”. Ruby was somewhat underdressed, so the police had the right to take her to pick up some other clothes at the house of the friend that was hosting her, Michelle Consesao, who also happens to be a Brazilian prostitute. However, in the meantime, Michelle goes into a flat spin, so what does she do? She calls Berlusconi’s accountant, Giuseppe Spinelli, as well as Silvino Berlusconi. This Brazilian prostitute who lives in the vicinity of Corso Buenos Aires has the private cell phone number of Berlusconi, who happens to be in Paris on Government business at the time, but he doesn’t take the call because he was busy having dinner with other guests.
Berlusconi’s extortion
So she sends an SMS, by now it was 23h49, and while policeman Landolfi was busy trying to find a shelter that could take Ruby in, along comes Berlusconi’s telephone call. Colaprico writes that: Now everyone knows that Ruby was at the Police Station in Milan, a rather disturbing event at that, . Now everyone knows, so you can just imagine the confusion at the Police Station, what with Berlusconi’s telephone call from Paris and all the rest, they must have felt like the world was falling around their ears! In such situations all sorts of things can go through your mind, except that he was phoning about Ruby. We read in Police Chief Pietro Ostuni’s report that: “the Premier told me that the police station was holding a young girl of north-African descent and that he was told that she is Mubarak’s grand-daughter and that a Parliamentary Councillor by the name of Mrs. Minetti would come and take custody of the girl”. In reality, Ms. Minetti is herself a former showgirl and now a Regional Councillor that Berlusconi falsely referred to as Parliamentary Councillor and that he had told to go and pick Ruby up. Ms. Minetti would apparently take custody of the girl and look after her and that’s how the telephone call ended. At this point it is clear that Berlusconi knew only too well that the girl was underage, otherwise he would not have taken the trouble to send someone to take custody of her. If she had come of age, and they decided to release her, there would not have been any need for anyone to take custody of her since adults are responsible for themselves.
A fleet of telephone calls from Ostini then begins to rain down upon this newly qualified Policewoman Iafratti and Ostuni begins to harass Iafratti. From Police Chief Vincenzo Indolfi’s official report, we read that “I became concerned about whether or not this underage girl’s case had been handled properly. The fact that the Prime Minister told a lie was not so important to me”. So the Police Chief of Milan reports that The Prime Minister lied when he said that Ruby was Mubarak’s grand-daughter, and thereby hinted that this could lead to an International incident, upset the entire Police Station, causing them to do something that they would not otherwise have done if there had been no telephone call, but why? Well, because everything was proceeding as normal in such cases, in other words, either the girl would have been placed in a shelter or she would have remained at the Police Station until she could be placed in a shelter.
Indolfi says: “The fact that Berlusconi lied to us was neither here nor there as far as I’m concerned, I merely wanted to make sure that the proper procedures had been followed”. However, from that moment on, nothing went according to plan. A fax was sent to a shelter in Sicily, one of the shelters where she had previously stayed. But the cops’ report tells a different story. Ruby was released at 02h00, accompanied by Ms. Minetti who, instead of taking care of the girl as Berlusconi stated she would, simply dumped her onto Michelle Consesao, thus putting her back in the hands of another prostitute, and Berlusconi says: “I stepped in to save this girl”! In other words, to save her from the Police, Berlusconi has Minetti deliver her to a prostitute, what a great rescue that is! They simply put her back on the streets! To save her from the Police, not from prostitution, they send her back to work as a prostitute, the Prime Minister and an appointed Regional Councillor, or so-called parliamentary councillor!
So while Ruby was released into Ms. Minetti’s custody at 02h00, back at the Police Station they continued to track her identity, which they should have done prior to re leasing her. Finally, at 4am they managed to trace her parents who live in a ?Letojanni? in Messina Province if I’m not mistaken. Upon being unceremoniously pulled out of bed, her parents state that they don’t have their daughter’s identity document and they say that they are in no way related to Mubarak. No surprise there since they are Moroccan and Mubarak is President of Egypt!
Another little-known detail is that when Ms. Bocassini and the other Prosecutors questioned Ostuni, they asked: “Why does this report make no mention of the telephone call from the Prime Minister, nor of the lie that was told to the policemen?” Colaprico notes that Ostuni could not answer and couldn’t account for this fact, so the report was incomplete, but if anyone else had dreamed up such a lie, what police action would have resulted? Was it perhaps his position as the Head of Government that enabled Berlusconi to get something that is not granted to us mere mortals?
Obviously this is the problem. The facts are what they are, this much we understand. The Police Station did something that they would never have done were it not for Berlusconi’s phone call. The other night on television, Belpietro, who knows absolutely nothing about the law, said that: “If there was indeed any collusion, then the Prosecutors should charge the Police Officials who released Ruby prior to having confirmed her real identity and countermanding the orders given by the Prosecutor on duty. If they didn’t incriminate these officials the nit means that everything occurred as normal, and if everything occurred as normal, the nit means that there was no extortion by Berlusconi. Extortion is when one individual threatens another in order to get him/her to do something he/she shouldn’t do, so if there was nothing untoward done, then there was obviously no extortion.
The problem is that the crime of extortion is not committed by both the extortionist and the victim. The extortionist is the one committing the crime, while the individual being threatened is the victim and if he/she is forced to do something he/she shouldn’t do, then he/she is a victim and should not be prosecuted. It’s exactly the same situation as someone who pays protection money to the mafia, where the conclusion is the extortion committed by a public official. If I as a mafioso force a trader to pay me protection money and the trader gives me money, thus funding a mafia member, what is that? Aiding and abetting the Mafia? Yet he does not get punished, but why? Well, because he acted under extreme pressure, so he/she is a victim. That’s why the police officers that were pressured are not being prosecuted for re leasing Ruby.
These are the facts that demonstrate monumental abuse of power and a judge must decide whether or not a crime has been committed, however, we can nevertheless say that it was abuse of power since we have a blow-by-blow account of exactly what happened that night. This abuse of power constitutes sufficient grounds for the Milan Prosecution to take action. The next question is whether or not this was a ministerial crime? Be very careful here because this can easily turn into a play on words, but the situation is actually very clear indeed. A Ministerial crime is different from a normal crime, but why? Well, because in the case of a ministerial crime, prior authorisation is required from Parliament in order to prosecute the perpetrator, that’s because in order for any member of the Premier’s Government or other Minister to be prosecuted for any crimes committed whilst carrying out their official duties, permission to proceed must first be obtained from Parliament and, given that we know exactly who is in Parliament, there would be no trial since Parliament would most certainly deny permission for the Ministerial Court to try Berlusconi who they will rule was merely carrying out his duties according to the Constitution.
But what does “carrying out his duties” actually mean? It means doing that which is required of a Prime Minister, but does that include phoning Police Stations and telling them what to do with underage Moroccan girls arrested for theft, without fixed abode, with no identity documents, etc.? No, this is certainly not amongst the Prime Minister’s official duties. Now I don’t know if it perhaps falls within the scope of the duties of the Minister for Internal Affairs, I don’t believe so, but it is certainly not the Prime Minister’s duty, not in his official capacity anyway, and when he made that telephone call, he didn’t say “I’m Joe Soap”, he said “I’m the Prime Minister and it’s obvious that he phoned in his official capacity, so what now? So it’s no longer classified as abuse of power because that’s not part of his job. It’s now called abuse of office. He abused his position as Prime Minister , so it’s no longer a matter requiring permission to proceed, in which case he would have been safe because such permission would undoubtedly have been denied. Instead, he abused the Office of Prime Minister in order to do something that is certainly not part of his job, even though he did so as the incumbent Prime Minister, otherwise he would not have frightened anyone into doing anything, get it? If I, as a magistrate or a policeman, go into a restaurant and say “give me a free meal or I will arrest you” and it is obviously within your powers to arrest someone, then I’m abusing my official powers.
If, instead, as a policeman I walk into a shop and say give me money otherwise I’ll clout you, clouting someone is not within my powers as policeman, so now do you understand the fine distinction at play here?
So there is no doubt that this does not qualify as a Ministerial crime and, as a normal crime, the jurisdiction lies with the Milan Court, without any permission required from Parliament.
Finally, what happens next? The question is will they or won’t they prosecute him? How can he get away with it? How can he wangle his way out of this one? What is the story with the expedited proceedings, what could happen? I conclude by explaining what could happen now.
The Milan Prosecution has asked for the expedited procedure, or rather they have announced that they will be applying for the expedited procedure, as contemplated in Art. 453 of the Criminal Code and Procedure, which provides for an immediate trial in the case of extreme urgency, but when and where does this apply? Well, it applies when the Prosecution has such indisputable proof that the normal preliminary steps, like preliminary hearings, etc. become irrelevant. The case goes straight to trial based on all the evidence that has been gathered, so the case immediately goes before the appointed judge.
Expedited prosecution for Berlusconi
When the evidence is apparently overwhelming, an expedited trial can be requested once the person under investigation has been questioned regarding the overwhelming evidence, or after the individual has failed to appear after being summonsed, subject to legitimate impediment, or where the person is untraceable, so what did the Prosecution do? They summonsed Berlusconi to appear whenever it suited him anytime between Friday and Sunday, namely the 21/22/23 January. He failed to appear, even on the Sunday and there did not appear to be any legitimate impediment. At that point they said: okay, you have chosen not to come in for questioning, the conditions have been met, we believe that the evidence we have against you is overwhelming, so now the third and last requirement is that the Prosecutors must formulate their charges within 90 days after the registration of the crime. Berlusconi name was entered into the register on 21 December, so the Prosecutors have until 21 March to lodge their application for an expedited trial with the Preliminary Investigations Magistrate. One month has already passed, so the Prosecutors still have two months to lodge their application, at which point the Preliminary Investigations Magistrate may grant the request if he feels that the grounds are sufficient and thus remand Berlusconi for immediate trial.
Within five days after submission of the request, the judge must either issue a decree providing for immediate trial and order that the documentation be sent to the Prosecution, or decide that there are insufficient grounds for an immediate trial and order that the normal prosecution process be used, including preliminary hearings and the usual remand for trial or absolution. The Decree issued must also specify that the accused can ask for an expedited trial or try to plea-bargain, which would mean that everything is done entirely in chambers, behind closed doors, without any television cameras, without any journalists and without any witnesses, so what happens is that the trial will be based entirely on the available documentation, there is not much discussion at all and plea-bargains can be struck, however, I doubt very much whether Berlusconi would ever agree to a plea-bargain, that’s the last thing on his mind!
Once an expedited trial has been arranged, the proceeding take place in Court according to the same rules as a normal trial, except that everything is done more quickly, skipping the preliminary hearings and the submission of evidence. At this point, however, they are claiming that the Milan Court doesn’t have jurisdiction because Arcore falls under Monza. Besides the fact that the Monza Court’s jurisdiction does not extend to underage prostitution cases, for which the District Prosecutions have jurisdiction, in this case the Milan Prosecution, the events that took place at the Police Station fall squarely under the jurisdiction of the Milan Court, so their only hope is to get the case handed over to the Ministerial Court, but there is no way that this case can be handed over to the Ministerial Court, but why? Well, because neither Berlusconi nor Ghedini can get the case moved to the Ministerial Court, only the Prosecution can do that and they’ve already made it clear that this was not a Ministerial crime in their opinion.. Furthermore, I forgot to mention that constitutional Law No. 1/1991 stipulates that for a crime to be classified as a Ministerial crime, it must have been committed in the significant interests of the State, in other words, in order to further the aims of public interest, that’s what constitutional law No. 1, dated 16 January 1991, states that governs ministerial crimes. You can imagine if underage prostitution or telephone calls to a Police Station to demand someone’s release, bypassing normal procedures, could ever be covered by such a law. It has to have been done in the Public interest, and in this case it was more like Pubic interest than Public Interest!
So there is no possible reason, or for that matter any other way by which Berlusconi could get his case heard in the Ministerial Court, so what else can he do? He has already threatened to raise an issue of a conflict of interests between the judiciary and the State before the Constitutional Court, citing the Milan judges that are refusing to allow the case to be heard in the Ministerial Court, some may say: but if Berlusconi or his attorneys use their parliamentary majority to force the issue and drag the Milan judges before the Constitutional Committee for refusing to allow the case to be heard by the Ministerial Court, then what will come of this case? Well, there would be no valid grounds for the Constitutional Committee to rule on such a patently bullshit claim anyway, but given the slow pace at which the Constitutional Committee operates, irrespective of whether they find for Chamber of Deputies or for the Milan judges, what would happen in the meantime as regards the expedited trial? Does it continue or is it suspended? Because if Berlusconi somehow manages to get his conflict of power claim to stop the trial for the next two years, then so much for expedited trials and so it’s back to square one!
Fortunately for us, however, such a claim before the Constitutional Committee would not hold up or suspend the expedited trial, which would continue in any event. It’s already happened before with conflict of poker claims against the Milan Prosecution in the Abu Omar case, yet the trial continues and it stops just short of handing down sentence in order to await the ruling of the Constitutional Court, so Berlusconi’s case will go ahead anyway, even if the conflict of powers issue is raised and only the final ruling will be withheld until the Constitutional Court has reached its decision.
I hope I have managed to clarify the issue for you, so let’s just say that this time it really looks as if Berlusconi is balls to the wall, barring any other tricks that neither we nor Berlusconi have thought about yet and he will have to defend himself, not against allegations but against facts, starting with what he really did that night at the Police Station.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Elite Decides
January 26, 2011
Federico Varese, a professor of criminology at Oxford University, is the author of the forthcoming "Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories."
With Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's latest escapades, Italy's standing in the world has never been so low as it is now. Indeed, as an Italian citizen, I'm often asked: "Why have Italians tolerated this man for so long?"
Ordinary Italians might have reached the tipping point, but not the economic, social and political elite.
A vast section of the Italian public is outraged at Mr. Berlusconi's behavior. Nearly 50 percent of Italians recently polled called for him to step down. It is likely that several million will sign a petition demanding his resignation. And contrary to Mr. Berlusconi's claims, 70 percent of Italians do not support his People of Freedom Party.
Generalized attitudes, critical as they might be, have to be channeled into viable political solutions. In a "mature" democracy, the leaders of the People of Freedom would suggest Mr. Berlusconi step down for the good of the party. But in Italy, he owns his party. The opposition party should be a credible alternative; but it isn't.
You would think the news media would be running damaging in-depth investigations on the latest scandal. But Mr. Berlusconi owns private channels and controls several state-run ones as well; those who oppose him are usually vilified in the press.
Other crucial players in Italian politics are reluctant to ditch him. For the most part, Italian business leaders still prefer Mr. Berlusconi’s government over the one led by the Left. And the Vatican, which has benefited from measures implemented by his government like support for Catholic schools and tax breaks for Church-run hotels, has been extremely timid in its criticism. Most crucially, Mr. Berlusconi remains the favored partner of the anti-immigrant Northern League, which advocates for a federal system for Italy.
Ordinary Italians might have reached the tipping point, but not the economic, social and political elite. Let's hope they catch up soon.
Federico Varese, a professor of criminology at Oxford University, is the author of the forthcoming "Mafias on the Move: How Organized Crime Conquers New Territories."
With Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's latest escapades, Italy's standing in the world has never been so low as it is now. Indeed, as an Italian citizen, I'm often asked: "Why have Italians tolerated this man for so long?"
Ordinary Italians might have reached the tipping point, but not the economic, social and political elite.
A vast section of the Italian public is outraged at Mr. Berlusconi's behavior. Nearly 50 percent of Italians recently polled called for him to step down. It is likely that several million will sign a petition demanding his resignation. And contrary to Mr. Berlusconi's claims, 70 percent of Italians do not support his People of Freedom Party.
Generalized attitudes, critical as they might be, have to be channeled into viable political solutions. In a "mature" democracy, the leaders of the People of Freedom would suggest Mr. Berlusconi step down for the good of the party. But in Italy, he owns his party. The opposition party should be a credible alternative; but it isn't.
You would think the news media would be running damaging in-depth investigations on the latest scandal. But Mr. Berlusconi owns private channels and controls several state-run ones as well; those who oppose him are usually vilified in the press.
Other crucial players in Italian politics are reluctant to ditch him. For the most part, Italian business leaders still prefer Mr. Berlusconi’s government over the one led by the Left. And the Vatican, which has benefited from measures implemented by his government like support for Catholic schools and tax breaks for Church-run hotels, has been extremely timid in its criticism. Most crucially, Mr. Berlusconi remains the favored partner of the anti-immigrant Northern League, which advocates for a federal system for Italy.
Ordinary Italians might have reached the tipping point, but not the economic, social and political elite. Let's hope they catch up soon.
Friday, January 21, 2011
From Police Headquarters to Sex with RubyThe 10 Lies of Berlusconi
by GIUSEPPE D'AVANZO
Ruby
The lies in Silvio Berlusconi's TV statement are ten in number. Below we demonstrate how the words of the Premier are falsifying variations. They form a fictitious representation for public opinion that appears largely bogus, including in light of what already has emerged from the documents in connection with the Milan investigation. The lies in the declarations of the Premier must deny how and why he managed to have weaselled out of Police Headquarters, removing from State custody, a minor accused of theft. A female minor with whom the head of government entertained, for at least three months, very intense relations: between the two there are 67 phone contacts in 77 days.
Unable to tell the truth about this relationship, the Premier is forced to lie again: he speaks of judicial persecution; he invents a violation of his privacy; he accuses the police of having mistreated his female friends: it is a self-defence that brooks no verification. "I don't have to feel ashamed," says Berlusconi. His ten lies ought to convince him not only to feel ashamed but also to assume the responsibility to make matters clear before the Bench and before the country.
Here, then, are the ten lies that, if necessary, we shall expand on over time.
1. "I HAVEN'T THREATENED ANYONE"
The Premier says: "I'll read to you the answers of the functionary at the Public Prosecutor's Office where he describes my phone call: "The security officer said to me: 'Dr, I'm putting you through to the Premier because there's a problem. Immediately afterwards the Premier told me that there was a girl of North African origin who had been reported to him as Mubarak's niece and that a member of the Regional Council, Mrs Minetti, would have taken responsibility for this girl. The phone call ended on that note.' But does it seem to you that this can be considered a threatening phone call?"
Berlusconi knows he is lying because there was more than a single phone call with the Private Secretary. As stated in the invitation to appear before judicial authorities, the functionary received repeated "further calls from the Premier" (the Public Prosecutor's Office has not divulged all Berlusconi's telephone contacts or yet made public the exact number.) They must have been urgent and impending enough as to suggest to the Private Secretary to make 24 calls to the functionary on duty, to the direct superior of the same, and to the Chief of Police. The first call comes in at 00:02.21, with the last recorded at 6:47.14. It matters not a whit whether or not the Private Secretary perceived "a threat" in the words of the Premier. It is indisputable that the functionary busies about. The upshot is the placing of Ruby, in actual fact, in the custody of a prostitute, Michele Coincecao, which eventuality the competent Children's Court, in the person of Anna Maria Fiorillo, had ruled out. This is the result of the pressure exerted by Berlusconi: the police disobey the magistrate's orders.
2. "I DIDN'T HAVE SEX WITH RUBY"
The Premier says: "I'm accused of having had sexual relations with a girl under 18 years old, Ruby. This girl has declared to the lawyers and a thousand times to all the Italian and foreign newspapers that she never ever had sexual relations with me."
It is helpful to remember how Ruby was "approached" by lawyers, by what lawyers and on what occasion. Going back to 6 October 2010, Ruby has to meet with her lawyer, not the one she has today (Massimo Di Noja), who would be appointed only on 29th October, but Luca Giuliante, also Lele Mora's counsel for the defence. Ruby reached the law office accompanied by a friend, Luca Risso. Risso, via SMS, reports what happens to a female friend of his. Five messages are useful. 1. "I'm in the middle of an unbelievable interrogation.... I'll tell you about it later, but it's crazy!" 2. "It keeps getting worse, when I tell you about it later (if I'll be able to..."). 3. The friend at the other end texts back: "Why are they questioning Ruby?" 4. Risso writes: "There's Lele [Mora], the lawyer, Ruby, an emissary of His [sic]. A woman making a written record. I'm here because they think I know everything." 5. "I'm still here. Now I've gone outside to stretch my legs. She's up there, they've stopped a moment because we're at the hard scenes with the Pr... with the person."
From this information one infers a couple of scenes. Ruby was the protagonist of "hard scenes" with the Premier.Lele Mora, Berlusconi's emissary, and attorney Giuliante "interrogate" her to learn what she has told the public prosecutors. It is a real debriefing that can enable them to know the accusations, to anticipate the moves of the public prosecutors and to rebut the girl's recollections with the sworn statement that Berlusconi waves today. Uselessly, because it appears to be more the fruit of either moral violence or corruption, if one takes Ruby at her word when she tells her father: "I'm with the lawyer, Silvio has told him: tell her that I'll pay her the price she wants. The important thing is that she keeps her mouth shut." It is 26 October 2010.
3. "EVEN RUBY FREES ME FROM BLAME"
The Premier says: "I'm reading you what Ruby herself states in a declaration that is signed and authenticated by her lawyers: 'I have never had any type of sexual relation with Mr Silvio Berlusconi. No one, neither Mr Berlusconi nor other persons, has ever proposed to me the possibility of obtaining money or other benefits in exchange for a willingness to have relations of a sexual nature with Mr Silvio Berlusconi. I can add that, instead, I received from him, as a form of help, in view of my particular situation of difficulty, a sum of money. When I met Mr Berlusconi, I illustrated to him my personal and family state in the following terms: I told him I was 24 years old, that I was an Egyptian national (not Moroccan), that I came from a family of high social status, in particular that I was the daughter of a well-known Egyptian singer. I also told him about my being in trouble owning to having been disowned by my original family after I had converted to Catholicism.' This is why I would like to go to trial immediately, with this irrefutable evidence, but with judges who are super partes.
Rather than irrefutable, these sources of evidence appear insincere. We have seen the kind of climate and before what actors Ruby's letter absolving Berlusconi comes into existence. The tale could have been better contrived. Even setting aside those "hard scenes" there are at least some important factors that make it fall apart and tell us the extent of Berlusconi's failure to tell the truth. The Premier knew Ruby was a minor and never believed she was from "a family of high social status" because it was Emilio Fede who scrutinised her at a beauty contest in Sicily in 2009. The journalist knows that she is a "misfit." There is a video that shows her when, on that occasion, he says: "There's a 13-year-old girl, Egyptian if I'm not mistaken; I was moved, I offered solidarity [because] the girl doesn't have her parents anymore."
Out of "solidarity" Fede steers the teenager to Lele Mora, who "weans" her and in that same year assigns her to Berlusconi's evenings. Some witnesses refer that in 2009 Ruby frequented Villa San Martino on two occasions. She confirms it: "I have frequented Berlusconi since I was 16 years old." The meetings with the Sovereign would not be occasional. The Dragon takes a fancy to her. From 14th February to 2nd May 2010 the telephone contacts between Ruby and the Premier number 67. Nearly a phone call every day.
4. "IT'S THE 28TH PERSECUTION"
The Premier says: "I've finally had a chance to read the 389 pages of the latest real judicial persecution, the 28th in 17 years."
The number of Berlusconi's trials is a merciful mystery that changes according to the circumstances. The Cavaliere says: "[I'm] absolutely the most prosecuted by the magistrature in all ages, in the whole history of mankind throughout the world. [I've been] subjected to 106 trials, all ending with acquittals and two invalidated by prescription" (10 October 2009). On the same day, Marina Berlusconi scales down the paternal hyperbole: "Between trials and investigations my father has been involved 26 times. But he hasn't been found guilty once, I repeat, once. And if, as they say, three instances of circumstantial evidence suffice to constitute proof, doesn't it seem to you that 26 accusations that led nowhere are incontrovertible proof of a persecution?" (Corriere, 10 October 2009). A few days later, Paolo Bonaiuti, the Premier's spokesman, further pumps up the computation: "The trials against Berlusconi number 109" ("Porta a porta" TV show, 15 October 2009). Even host Bruno Vespa rebuts, endorsing Marina's count: "Let's not exaggerate, the trials number 26."
Twenty-eight, 26, 106 or 109, and how many acquittals? Actually, the trials the Cavaliere has faced as defendant number 16. Four are still underway: bribery in connection with judicial acts in the Mills affaire; tax fraud concerning Mediaset TV rights (being heard in Milan); embezzlement in the Mediatrade affaire; and this latest for abuse of office and abetting juvenile prostitution.
In the trials already ended, only three cases saw sentences of acquittal. On one occasion with full acquittal, for the "Sme-Ariosto/1" affaire (the bribery of Rome judges). Twice with reservation: the "Medusa" slush funds and the bribes to the Revenue Guard Corps, where the Cavaliere was found guilty of bribery in the first instance, declared guilty with the sentence invalidated by prescription on appeal thanks to generic extenuating circumstances, and acquitted on appeal to the Court of Cassation due to "lack of evidence." With the legal provisions on false book entries reformed and decriminalised by the Berlusconi government, the defendant Berlusconi was acquitted in two trials (All Iberian/2 and Sme-Ariosto/2) because "the fact is not an offence provided for by law."
Two amnesties extinguish the offence and cancel his conviction for perjury (he had fudged the dates of his enrolment in the P2) and for false booking (the lands of Macherio). He was saved five times by "generic extenuating circumstances" that (mind you) can be granted to those found guilty as charged. Moreover, in three cases the "generic extenuating circumstances" allowed him to benefit from the halved invalidation by prescription time that he devised for himself as head of government: "All Iberian/1" (unlawful financing of Craxi); the "Lentini case"; "Fininvest balance sheets1988-1992"; "slush fund in consolidated Fininvest" (1,500 milliard euros); Mondadori (Berlusconi's attorney, Cesare Previti, "buys" Judge Metta, with both found guilty). Rather than judicial persecution, we are before an adventure marked by a high degree of illegality.
5. "THEY'VE BEEN SPYING ON ME SINCE JANUARY 2010"
The Premier says: "Just think, my Arcore home has been subjected to a continuous monitoring that has been going on since January of 2010 to check on all the persons who entered and left and how long they stayed. They have used sophisticated techniques as though they had to do a roundup against the Mafia or against the Camorra". "You must know that the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan listed me as a suspect only on 21st December last, what a coincidence, just seven days after the vote of confidence in Parliament, and therefore all the previous investigations were formally directed against others but essentially they were keeping precisely my home and my person under control."
God only knows what the vote of confidence has to do with it. What would he have said had the vote gone against him? He would have said that, the government having fallen, the magistrature starts its revenge. Berlusconi must let it be believed in order to politicise a melancholy story of juvenile prostitutes and abuses of power that have nothing to do with politics.
It is false to maintain that his Arcore home has been kept under surveillance for a year. After Ruby's declarations (3 August 2010), the investigations proceed very cautiously. Initially they are directed toward Lele Mora, Emilio Fede and Nicole Minetti. Only in the autumn do possible direct responsibilities of the Premier emerge. Prior to listing Berlusconi in the register of suspects, the public prosecutors, as always, conduct a thorough preliminary examination as to whether the charges have some basis in fact. They request the printouts of Ruby's phone calls beginning from January 2010. Does she really know the head of government? The verification process thus is done after the fact and not in real time as the head of government, lying, maliciously alleges.
6. "THEY HAVE DONE VIOLENCE TO MY HOME"
The Premier says: "In my home I have always performed government and parliamentary duties, even having so informed the Chamber of Deputies since 2004, and the violation that has been committed is particularly serious because it goes against the most elementary constitutional principles."
From no record of the investigation can it be inferred that the residence of the Premier has been "violated." A procurer is being investigated. An eye is kept on the same. The man moves with prostitutes in his retinue. He is followed. It is discovered that the procession of cars, often escorted by a State car, enters the gate of Villa San Martino. No offence is done to the domicile. Rather, we must ask ourselves whether Berlusconi does it offence. There are some good reasons for maintaining so. He pretends that his private dwelling be considered a State residence. Fine. This is why, including owing to an elementary constitutional principle (Art. 54 of the Constitution of the Republic of Italy: "Citizens who have been entrusted with public functions have the duty to discharge them with discipline and honour"), Berlusconi ought not to fill his house with prostitutes (in meeting the obligation of "honour" that should go hand in hand with his public responsibility). He ought to protect himself by exercising "discipline" and not neglect his personal safety, as happens when opening the door to any Italian or foreign girl willing to spend the night with him. His disorderly life has made him vulnerable and open to blackmail. Berlusconi was continuously extorted by his female guests, as one learns from the investigations. It is only natural to ask: These may be minor instances of blackmail, but on how many and what occasions, perhaps at the international level, has Berlusconi also made possible major instances of blackmail? And who knows whether they may still be "current"?
7. "MILAN LACKS JURISDICTION"
The Premier says: "As the law and the Constitution prescribe, within 15 days from the beginning of the investigations the Public Prosecutor's Office should have turned over all the records to the Court of Ministers, the only one competent for all these matters. Furthermore, it is extremely serious that the Public Prosecutor's Office wants to continue to investigate despite not being legitimised to do so. Among other things, the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan even lacked jurisdiction. As a matter of fact, the offence of abuse of office is being charged against me as though it were committed in Milan. This is obviously groundless since the functionary at Police Headquarters who received my telephone call at the time was, as shown by the investigations themselves, in Sesto San Giovanni. Therefore, the jurisdiction belonged and belongs to the Court of Monza."
It is bizarre that Berlusconi takes on the role of shyster and disputes the jurisdiction of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan in a telecast video and not in the courtroom. In the latter it would be more difficult for him to win his point, the pertinent jurisprudence being uniform. Abuse of office is an abuse. It has to do with "power" if the person who engages in it plays on "functional powers for a purpose other than that with which he has been vested" (Court of Cassation). To make things clear, it would have been an abuse of office had the Minister of the Interior called the Police Headquarters of Milan to "recommend" Ruby's release. Such abuse may also involve "capacity." In this case, it involves "behaviour that, regardless of the competencies of the subject (the abuser), manifests itself as an instrumentalisation of the position of pre-eminence held."
This is the case of Berlusconi. Abuse of power and abuse of capacity presuppose two different competencies. The abuse of power by a minister imposes the competence of the Court of Ministers. The abuse of capacity requires territorial competence: Where was the offence committed? The head of government knows that this is the decisive question and tries to stack the deck. He says: Monza has jurisdiction because here is where the Private Secretary of the Police Headquarters that received my phone call lives. Error. Abuse of office is an offence involving an "event" and not "behaviour" and therefore the jurisdiction is rooted where "the gain" materialises. It is undoubted that the gain (Ruby entrusted to Minetti and removed from State protection) becomes concrete in Milan.
8. "ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POLICE OFFICERS AGAINST 10 GIRLS: MY FRIENDS HAVE BEEN MISTREATED"
The Premier says: "The same public prosecutors who ordered, with a deployment of forces numbering at least 150 men, an impressive search operation against girls guilty only of having been my guests at some dinners.... These searches with regard to persons who weren't even under investigation but just witnesses were performed with the utmost contempt for the dignity of their person and of their privacy. They were mistreated."
A fib. Ten members of the Criminal Police attached to the Public Prosecutor's Office have collaborated in the investigation; they are available not only for this investigation but also for the work of all 90 of Milan's public prosecutors. Last Friday the Flying Squad of Milan dispatched 30 police officers (including many women) to search the flats of ten of the Premier's female friends, habitués of Arcore. Mistreatment? Berlusconi is belied even by Giuseppe Spinelli, the accountant of Arcore, official paymaster of the Premier's female friends: "At 7:30 we found five Criminalpol police officers in the house. They weren't at all rude...."
9. "I'VE NEVER PAID A WOMAN"
The Premier says: "It's absurd just to think that I paid to have relations with a woman. It's something that never happened to me even once in my life. It's something that I would consider degrading for my dignity."
Patrizia D'Addario was paid previously, even if by Giampaolo Tarantini, to keep the head of government company in Putin's big bed at Palazzo Grazioli. The Milan investigation instead tells us how none of the girls invited to Arcore left the villa without an envelope containing a 500-euro banknote prepared by the house accountant. Even those, such as M. T., who were uninterested in money, found themselves being offered an envelope containing 500 euros. A poker chip. Nothing like the "7,000 euros" received by Ruby. And by Iris. And by Imma. And by Barbara.... It is sooner said what girl did not get paid than to list the names of those who lingered in the "bunga bunga" room or in the arms of the Dragon in exchange for payment. None of the girls who after dinner descended to the room below ground level of Villa San Martino went away empty-handed. It is useless to say how degraded the Premier's dignity appears.
10. "I DON'T HAVE TO FEEL ASHAMED"
The Premier says: "There was no abuse of power, there was no abetting of prostitution, much less involving minors. There was nothing for me to be ashamed of. There is just an extremely serious attack by some public prosecutors who have trampled on the laws for political purposes with great amplification by the media."
Berlusconi must not feel ashamed only over the dishonour that has upset the country and over the discredit that today defiles the premiership. On 28 May 2009, one month from the beginning of the Noemi affaire, he said: "I swear on the head of my children never having had 'spicy' relations with minors. If I were lying, I would resign immediately." Berlusconi must feel shame for the relations entertained from 2009 to 2010 with two minors (Noemi and Ruby). He must feel shame for having lied to the country. He must feel shame for not yet having resigned.
(January 21st 2011)
Ruby
The lies in Silvio Berlusconi's TV statement are ten in number. Below we demonstrate how the words of the Premier are falsifying variations. They form a fictitious representation for public opinion that appears largely bogus, including in light of what already has emerged from the documents in connection with the Milan investigation. The lies in the declarations of the Premier must deny how and why he managed to have weaselled out of Police Headquarters, removing from State custody, a minor accused of theft. A female minor with whom the head of government entertained, for at least three months, very intense relations: between the two there are 67 phone contacts in 77 days.
Unable to tell the truth about this relationship, the Premier is forced to lie again: he speaks of judicial persecution; he invents a violation of his privacy; he accuses the police of having mistreated his female friends: it is a self-defence that brooks no verification. "I don't have to feel ashamed," says Berlusconi. His ten lies ought to convince him not only to feel ashamed but also to assume the responsibility to make matters clear before the Bench and before the country.
Here, then, are the ten lies that, if necessary, we shall expand on over time.
1. "I HAVEN'T THREATENED ANYONE"
The Premier says: "I'll read to you the answers of the functionary at the Public Prosecutor's Office where he describes my phone call: "The security officer said to me: 'Dr, I'm putting you through to the Premier because there's a problem. Immediately afterwards the Premier told me that there was a girl of North African origin who had been reported to him as Mubarak's niece and that a member of the Regional Council, Mrs Minetti, would have taken responsibility for this girl. The phone call ended on that note.' But does it seem to you that this can be considered a threatening phone call?"
Berlusconi knows he is lying because there was more than a single phone call with the Private Secretary. As stated in the invitation to appear before judicial authorities, the functionary received repeated "further calls from the Premier" (the Public Prosecutor's Office has not divulged all Berlusconi's telephone contacts or yet made public the exact number.) They must have been urgent and impending enough as to suggest to the Private Secretary to make 24 calls to the functionary on duty, to the direct superior of the same, and to the Chief of Police. The first call comes in at 00:02.21, with the last recorded at 6:47.14. It matters not a whit whether or not the Private Secretary perceived "a threat" in the words of the Premier. It is indisputable that the functionary busies about. The upshot is the placing of Ruby, in actual fact, in the custody of a prostitute, Michele Coincecao, which eventuality the competent Children's Court, in the person of Anna Maria Fiorillo, had ruled out. This is the result of the pressure exerted by Berlusconi: the police disobey the magistrate's orders.
2. "I DIDN'T HAVE SEX WITH RUBY"
The Premier says: "I'm accused of having had sexual relations with a girl under 18 years old, Ruby. This girl has declared to the lawyers and a thousand times to all the Italian and foreign newspapers that she never ever had sexual relations with me."
It is helpful to remember how Ruby was "approached" by lawyers, by what lawyers and on what occasion. Going back to 6 October 2010, Ruby has to meet with her lawyer, not the one she has today (Massimo Di Noja), who would be appointed only on 29th October, but Luca Giuliante, also Lele Mora's counsel for the defence. Ruby reached the law office accompanied by a friend, Luca Risso. Risso, via SMS, reports what happens to a female friend of his. Five messages are useful. 1. "I'm in the middle of an unbelievable interrogation.... I'll tell you about it later, but it's crazy!" 2. "It keeps getting worse, when I tell you about it later (if I'll be able to..."). 3. The friend at the other end texts back: "Why are they questioning Ruby?" 4. Risso writes: "There's Lele [Mora], the lawyer, Ruby, an emissary of His [sic]. A woman making a written record. I'm here because they think I know everything." 5. "I'm still here. Now I've gone outside to stretch my legs. She's up there, they've stopped a moment because we're at the hard scenes with the Pr... with the person."
From this information one infers a couple of scenes. Ruby was the protagonist of "hard scenes" with the Premier.Lele Mora, Berlusconi's emissary, and attorney Giuliante "interrogate" her to learn what she has told the public prosecutors. It is a real debriefing that can enable them to know the accusations, to anticipate the moves of the public prosecutors and to rebut the girl's recollections with the sworn statement that Berlusconi waves today. Uselessly, because it appears to be more the fruit of either moral violence or corruption, if one takes Ruby at her word when she tells her father: "I'm with the lawyer, Silvio has told him: tell her that I'll pay her the price she wants. The important thing is that she keeps her mouth shut." It is 26 October 2010.
3. "EVEN RUBY FREES ME FROM BLAME"
The Premier says: "I'm reading you what Ruby herself states in a declaration that is signed and authenticated by her lawyers: 'I have never had any type of sexual relation with Mr Silvio Berlusconi. No one, neither Mr Berlusconi nor other persons, has ever proposed to me the possibility of obtaining money or other benefits in exchange for a willingness to have relations of a sexual nature with Mr Silvio Berlusconi. I can add that, instead, I received from him, as a form of help, in view of my particular situation of difficulty, a sum of money. When I met Mr Berlusconi, I illustrated to him my personal and family state in the following terms: I told him I was 24 years old, that I was an Egyptian national (not Moroccan), that I came from a family of high social status, in particular that I was the daughter of a well-known Egyptian singer. I also told him about my being in trouble owning to having been disowned by my original family after I had converted to Catholicism.' This is why I would like to go to trial immediately, with this irrefutable evidence, but with judges who are super partes.
Rather than irrefutable, these sources of evidence appear insincere. We have seen the kind of climate and before what actors Ruby's letter absolving Berlusconi comes into existence. The tale could have been better contrived. Even setting aside those "hard scenes" there are at least some important factors that make it fall apart and tell us the extent of Berlusconi's failure to tell the truth. The Premier knew Ruby was a minor and never believed she was from "a family of high social status" because it was Emilio Fede who scrutinised her at a beauty contest in Sicily in 2009. The journalist knows that she is a "misfit." There is a video that shows her when, on that occasion, he says: "There's a 13-year-old girl, Egyptian if I'm not mistaken; I was moved, I offered solidarity [because] the girl doesn't have her parents anymore."
Out of "solidarity" Fede steers the teenager to Lele Mora, who "weans" her and in that same year assigns her to Berlusconi's evenings. Some witnesses refer that in 2009 Ruby frequented Villa San Martino on two occasions. She confirms it: "I have frequented Berlusconi since I was 16 years old." The meetings with the Sovereign would not be occasional. The Dragon takes a fancy to her. From 14th February to 2nd May 2010 the telephone contacts between Ruby and the Premier number 67. Nearly a phone call every day.
4. "IT'S THE 28TH PERSECUTION"
The Premier says: "I've finally had a chance to read the 389 pages of the latest real judicial persecution, the 28th in 17 years."
The number of Berlusconi's trials is a merciful mystery that changes according to the circumstances. The Cavaliere says: "[I'm] absolutely the most prosecuted by the magistrature in all ages, in the whole history of mankind throughout the world. [I've been] subjected to 106 trials, all ending with acquittals and two invalidated by prescription" (10 October 2009). On the same day, Marina Berlusconi scales down the paternal hyperbole: "Between trials and investigations my father has been involved 26 times. But he hasn't been found guilty once, I repeat, once. And if, as they say, three instances of circumstantial evidence suffice to constitute proof, doesn't it seem to you that 26 accusations that led nowhere are incontrovertible proof of a persecution?" (Corriere, 10 October 2009). A few days later, Paolo Bonaiuti, the Premier's spokesman, further pumps up the computation: "The trials against Berlusconi number 109" ("Porta a porta" TV show, 15 October 2009). Even host Bruno Vespa rebuts, endorsing Marina's count: "Let's not exaggerate, the trials number 26."
Twenty-eight, 26, 106 or 109, and how many acquittals? Actually, the trials the Cavaliere has faced as defendant number 16. Four are still underway: bribery in connection with judicial acts in the Mills affaire; tax fraud concerning Mediaset TV rights (being heard in Milan); embezzlement in the Mediatrade affaire; and this latest for abuse of office and abetting juvenile prostitution.
In the trials already ended, only three cases saw sentences of acquittal. On one occasion with full acquittal, for the "Sme-Ariosto/1" affaire (the bribery of Rome judges). Twice with reservation: the "Medusa" slush funds and the bribes to the Revenue Guard Corps, where the Cavaliere was found guilty of bribery in the first instance, declared guilty with the sentence invalidated by prescription on appeal thanks to generic extenuating circumstances, and acquitted on appeal to the Court of Cassation due to "lack of evidence." With the legal provisions on false book entries reformed and decriminalised by the Berlusconi government, the defendant Berlusconi was acquitted in two trials (All Iberian/2 and Sme-Ariosto/2) because "the fact is not an offence provided for by law."
Two amnesties extinguish the offence and cancel his conviction for perjury (he had fudged the dates of his enrolment in the P2) and for false booking (the lands of Macherio). He was saved five times by "generic extenuating circumstances" that (mind you) can be granted to those found guilty as charged. Moreover, in three cases the "generic extenuating circumstances" allowed him to benefit from the halved invalidation by prescription time that he devised for himself as head of government: "All Iberian/1" (unlawful financing of Craxi); the "Lentini case"; "Fininvest balance sheets1988-1992"; "slush fund in consolidated Fininvest" (1,500 milliard euros); Mondadori (Berlusconi's attorney, Cesare Previti, "buys" Judge Metta, with both found guilty). Rather than judicial persecution, we are before an adventure marked by a high degree of illegality.
5. "THEY'VE BEEN SPYING ON ME SINCE JANUARY 2010"
The Premier says: "Just think, my Arcore home has been subjected to a continuous monitoring that has been going on since January of 2010 to check on all the persons who entered and left and how long they stayed. They have used sophisticated techniques as though they had to do a roundup against the Mafia or against the Camorra". "You must know that the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan listed me as a suspect only on 21st December last, what a coincidence, just seven days after the vote of confidence in Parliament, and therefore all the previous investigations were formally directed against others but essentially they were keeping precisely my home and my person under control."
God only knows what the vote of confidence has to do with it. What would he have said had the vote gone against him? He would have said that, the government having fallen, the magistrature starts its revenge. Berlusconi must let it be believed in order to politicise a melancholy story of juvenile prostitutes and abuses of power that have nothing to do with politics.
It is false to maintain that his Arcore home has been kept under surveillance for a year. After Ruby's declarations (3 August 2010), the investigations proceed very cautiously. Initially they are directed toward Lele Mora, Emilio Fede and Nicole Minetti. Only in the autumn do possible direct responsibilities of the Premier emerge. Prior to listing Berlusconi in the register of suspects, the public prosecutors, as always, conduct a thorough preliminary examination as to whether the charges have some basis in fact. They request the printouts of Ruby's phone calls beginning from January 2010. Does she really know the head of government? The verification process thus is done after the fact and not in real time as the head of government, lying, maliciously alleges.
6. "THEY HAVE DONE VIOLENCE TO MY HOME"
The Premier says: "In my home I have always performed government and parliamentary duties, even having so informed the Chamber of Deputies since 2004, and the violation that has been committed is particularly serious because it goes against the most elementary constitutional principles."
From no record of the investigation can it be inferred that the residence of the Premier has been "violated." A procurer is being investigated. An eye is kept on the same. The man moves with prostitutes in his retinue. He is followed. It is discovered that the procession of cars, often escorted by a State car, enters the gate of Villa San Martino. No offence is done to the domicile. Rather, we must ask ourselves whether Berlusconi does it offence. There are some good reasons for maintaining so. He pretends that his private dwelling be considered a State residence. Fine. This is why, including owing to an elementary constitutional principle (Art. 54 of the Constitution of the Republic of Italy: "Citizens who have been entrusted with public functions have the duty to discharge them with discipline and honour"), Berlusconi ought not to fill his house with prostitutes (in meeting the obligation of "honour" that should go hand in hand with his public responsibility). He ought to protect himself by exercising "discipline" and not neglect his personal safety, as happens when opening the door to any Italian or foreign girl willing to spend the night with him. His disorderly life has made him vulnerable and open to blackmail. Berlusconi was continuously extorted by his female guests, as one learns from the investigations. It is only natural to ask: These may be minor instances of blackmail, but on how many and what occasions, perhaps at the international level, has Berlusconi also made possible major instances of blackmail? And who knows whether they may still be "current"?
7. "MILAN LACKS JURISDICTION"
The Premier says: "As the law and the Constitution prescribe, within 15 days from the beginning of the investigations the Public Prosecutor's Office should have turned over all the records to the Court of Ministers, the only one competent for all these matters. Furthermore, it is extremely serious that the Public Prosecutor's Office wants to continue to investigate despite not being legitimised to do so. Among other things, the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan even lacked jurisdiction. As a matter of fact, the offence of abuse of office is being charged against me as though it were committed in Milan. This is obviously groundless since the functionary at Police Headquarters who received my telephone call at the time was, as shown by the investigations themselves, in Sesto San Giovanni. Therefore, the jurisdiction belonged and belongs to the Court of Monza."
It is bizarre that Berlusconi takes on the role of shyster and disputes the jurisdiction of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan in a telecast video and not in the courtroom. In the latter it would be more difficult for him to win his point, the pertinent jurisprudence being uniform. Abuse of office is an abuse. It has to do with "power" if the person who engages in it plays on "functional powers for a purpose other than that with which he has been vested" (Court of Cassation). To make things clear, it would have been an abuse of office had the Minister of the Interior called the Police Headquarters of Milan to "recommend" Ruby's release. Such abuse may also involve "capacity." In this case, it involves "behaviour that, regardless of the competencies of the subject (the abuser), manifests itself as an instrumentalisation of the position of pre-eminence held."
This is the case of Berlusconi. Abuse of power and abuse of capacity presuppose two different competencies. The abuse of power by a minister imposes the competence of the Court of Ministers. The abuse of capacity requires territorial competence: Where was the offence committed? The head of government knows that this is the decisive question and tries to stack the deck. He says: Monza has jurisdiction because here is where the Private Secretary of the Police Headquarters that received my phone call lives. Error. Abuse of office is an offence involving an "event" and not "behaviour" and therefore the jurisdiction is rooted where "the gain" materialises. It is undoubted that the gain (Ruby entrusted to Minetti and removed from State protection) becomes concrete in Milan.
8. "ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POLICE OFFICERS AGAINST 10 GIRLS: MY FRIENDS HAVE BEEN MISTREATED"
The Premier says: "The same public prosecutors who ordered, with a deployment of forces numbering at least 150 men, an impressive search operation against girls guilty only of having been my guests at some dinners.... These searches with regard to persons who weren't even under investigation but just witnesses were performed with the utmost contempt for the dignity of their person and of their privacy. They were mistreated."
A fib. Ten members of the Criminal Police attached to the Public Prosecutor's Office have collaborated in the investigation; they are available not only for this investigation but also for the work of all 90 of Milan's public prosecutors. Last Friday the Flying Squad of Milan dispatched 30 police officers (including many women) to search the flats of ten of the Premier's female friends, habitués of Arcore. Mistreatment? Berlusconi is belied even by Giuseppe Spinelli, the accountant of Arcore, official paymaster of the Premier's female friends: "At 7:30 we found five Criminalpol police officers in the house. They weren't at all rude...."
9. "I'VE NEVER PAID A WOMAN"
The Premier says: "It's absurd just to think that I paid to have relations with a woman. It's something that never happened to me even once in my life. It's something that I would consider degrading for my dignity."
Patrizia D'Addario was paid previously, even if by Giampaolo Tarantini, to keep the head of government company in Putin's big bed at Palazzo Grazioli. The Milan investigation instead tells us how none of the girls invited to Arcore left the villa without an envelope containing a 500-euro banknote prepared by the house accountant. Even those, such as M. T., who were uninterested in money, found themselves being offered an envelope containing 500 euros. A poker chip. Nothing like the "7,000 euros" received by Ruby. And by Iris. And by Imma. And by Barbara.... It is sooner said what girl did not get paid than to list the names of those who lingered in the "bunga bunga" room or in the arms of the Dragon in exchange for payment. None of the girls who after dinner descended to the room below ground level of Villa San Martino went away empty-handed. It is useless to say how degraded the Premier's dignity appears.
10. "I DON'T HAVE TO FEEL ASHAMED"
The Premier says: "There was no abuse of power, there was no abetting of prostitution, much less involving minors. There was nothing for me to be ashamed of. There is just an extremely serious attack by some public prosecutors who have trampled on the laws for political purposes with great amplification by the media."
Berlusconi must not feel ashamed only over the dishonour that has upset the country and over the discredit that today defiles the premiership. On 28 May 2009, one month from the beginning of the Noemi affaire, he said: "I swear on the head of my children never having had 'spicy' relations with minors. If I were lying, I would resign immediately." Berlusconi must feel shame for the relations entertained from 2009 to 2010 with two minors (Noemi and Ruby). He must feel shame for having lied to the country. He must feel shame for not yet having resigned.
(January 21st 2011)
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