There are those who call it a joke in the press and those who call it a joke in the prosecutor’s office, but the measure taken in Palazzo Montecitorio constitutes a turning point in judicial news. On the evening of December 19, the Chamber voted yes to the amendment prohibiting the publication of precautionary detention orders, which enable judges to formalize measures restricting the freedom of suspects at the request of judges.
Gag law, what changes?
By a vote of 160 in favor and 70 against (M5S, Greens and Left Alliance and Pd), the Chamber approved the amendment submitted by Enrico Costa of Action, which transposes a European directive and changes the legislation on the disclosure of documents and images related to the trial. But compared to the original text, the government also amended the 2019 Orlando wiretapping law to allow the release of excerpts of the ordinance, imposing more restrictions.
As a practical matter, the contents of preventive detention orders cannot be published “in full or in summary” until the end of the preliminary hearing. Before this procedural stage, only what is reported by the Public Prosecutor’s Office can be reported, which often does not provide detailed information about the reasons for taking interim measures.
Stop broadcasting wiretaps
Strong condemnation from the Association of Journalists, who described how journalists were effectively prevented from reporting on arrests and the actions of law enforcement and judicial forces, which spoke of a “total obstruction of judicial news” and a “severe blow to the right to inform”.
“A total ban has nothing to do with the principle of presumption of innocence, but will constitute a serious limitation on citizens’ right to information,” ODG warns.
“From today we are less free, information is less free in our country,” says Sandro Ruotolo, information director of the Democratic Party. “The most right-wing majority that our country has known since the post-war period has decided not to disclose judicial news to the public. It has been decided to ban the publication of all or part of the injunction decisions until the judicial decisions are finalized. It has been decided to inform the public about issues such as preliminary investigation or preliminary hearing, fight against corruption, fight against the mafia.” means denial of the right to information. Criminal proceedings take a long time. Preliminary investigations can take up to a year to be concluded. , one and a half years after the day of arrest. With the passage of the law, facts of public interest will be denied from the public. We will learn about the evils of white-collar workers only through official press releases: this includes It’s called censorship,” comments Ruotolo. “Defending the right to the presumption of innocence has nothing to do with this, it is just the obsession of the right and the third pole, which is to want information in the service of the government, not the governed,” says Dem.
“The reformulated amendment to the European delegation law, signed by Costa and approved by the Chamber, may well become a new joke on freedom of the press in the hands of this Government. We cannot believe at all that this Ministry of Justice, which has been alarmed by guaranteeing announcements – criminalism is actually such a sensitive issue.” “It may have the right balance to address. Justice Minister Nordio, who has been away from policy observers for a long time, is not given a blank mandate, as with statute of limitations reform.” , attacks the spokesman and deputy of the Greens and the Left, Angelo Bonelli, and Devis Dori, the group leader of the Greens and the Left in the Chamber’s Justice Commission.
The reformulation of the text was instead commented positively by Forza Italia and Matilde Siracusano: “A positive outcome – which satisfies us – observes – a good achievement to reiterate once again the importance – for the FI and the government – of the guarantee and presumption of innocence of our Constitution “the cornerstones on which it is based.”
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Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
