Controversy is building around a proposed libel law in Italy after an amendment was passed by the Italian senate that could send reporters to jail but would let editors off with a fine.
The FNSI, the European Federation of Journalists’ affiliate in Italy, has today called on journalists to join a day of protests and mobilisation. Together with the Italian Publishers Federation (FIEG) the FNSI has signed an urgent appeal to the Parliament and to all political groups to reject this draft law and to decrimilize defamation.
“We reiterate our request to the Italian parliament to reverse the bill and to decriminalize defamation in Italy in order to preserve media freedom,” said EFJ President Arne König. “The EFJ completely supports the latest appeal of both publishers’ and journalists’ organisations who are campaigning against disproportionate rules that could seriously limit a journalist’s right to report.”
“Such important legislation should be discussed with all stakeholders, including journalists, publishers and civil society in a transparent matter”, he added.
The latest proposal for the law foresees only economic sanctions for directors or media organisations, but it provides for the possibility for reporters to potentially be imprisoned. “It cannot be that journalists who have less power over publishing decisions are risking more than the editors who have more power,” said König.
The debate over Italy's already severe defamation penalties was ignited in September when Alessandro Sallusti, editor-in-chief of the newspaper owned by the brother of Silvio Berlusconi, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for a libellous article printed in 2007, when he was in charge of another newspaper.
The FNSI has called on journalists and citizens to mobilise against this dangerous “test of reform of the law on defamation” in front of the Senate. The FNSI called for a demonstration today, 26 November at 17.00h on the piazza del pantheon to stand for “the dignity of the person, autonomy and responsibility, the right to know and pluralism of information.”
The EFJ campaigns for the decriminalisation of defamation throughout Europe.
More information on the website of the FNSI:
http://www.fnsi.it/Download/APPELLO_CONDIVISO_FIEG_FNSI_DDL_DIFFAMAZIONE.pdf
The EFJ is the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and represents about 310.000 journalists in over 30 countries.
For more information, please contact the EFJ at +32 2 235.2200