4 May 2007

The law on intercepts

I’m responding to the many emails I’ve received about the approval of the Mastella decree relating to telephone intercepts.
We considered it necessary to take this measure to regulate the use and what is often mis-use of intercepts.
Our vote in favour of the measure was out of a sense of responsibility since it is very evident that there is the need to protect anyone who is involved in intercepts but completely unconnected to the investigation.
Just as we considered the issue of safeguarding the use of intercepts as a necessary method of investigation and one that has no substitute.
We believe that the measure is substantially good in the general structure and that in specific parts there are margins for improvement.
We hope that modification can still be made in the Upper House so that there is a greater balance between the protection of the right to information and the protection of Privacy.
Italia dei Valori has fought mainly to avoid the measure moving in a direction of excessive penalties, as regards penalties for journalists and we opposed a term of imprisonment of up to 3 years as was requested in an amendment by AN and FI.
Another battle that the party has taken ahead is about the so-called “illicit” intercepts which will not be destroyed if they are part of the forensic evidence, considered useful to the investigation, they will be kept in a reserved archive that can be accessed by the leader of the investigation.
And finally, still on the norms relating to the profession of journalists, we have tried to protect people who live in definitely worse physical or social conditions.
Thus for these people if a news item is published about them and it is not useful to the investigation, the authorities can oblige the newspaper to repair the damage with an explicit admission in their publication of the gratuitous and unfounded fact about which they gave out information.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Justice