Italian Politician and Media Brought Under Scrutiny for Anti-Romani Speech

12 November 2007

ERRC calls for the Prosecution of High Level Hate Speech in Italy

In the wake of recent anti-Romani hysteria in Italy, on 12 November 2007 the ERRC sent a request to the Prosecutor of Rome, Italy’s National Office Against Discrimination, General Prosecutor and Journalists Order, requesting that each office opens an investigation into hate speech by Mr Gianfranco Fini, a high ranking political figure in Italy. In its letter, the ERRC urged the head of each office to investigate both the statements made by Mr Fini, as well as the responsibility of the national Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera for publishing racist statements without any sort of editorial remark.

The letter is the first in a series of planned activities by the ERRC and local organisations in response to the wave of anti-Romani speech and actions in Italy following the murder of an Italian woman by a Romanian Romani man and ensuing amendments to Italian immigrations laws relevant to EU citizens. The full text of the letter is available at:  View it (Acrobat pdf format)!.

For more information, please contact: 

• ERRC: Andi Dobrushi, Senior Staff Attorney, andi.dobrushi@errc.org, +36.1.413.2200

Persons wishing to express similar concerns are urged to contact:

Marco De Giorgi, General Director
Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali
Dipartimento Diritti e Pari Opportunità
Largo Chigi 19, 00187 Rome, Italy
Fax: +39.06.67792272

Procura della Republica Circondario: Roma
Piazzale Clodio
00195 ROMA (RM)
Via Gregorio VII, 122 (3° piano)
00167 ROMA (RM)
Fax: +39.06.39736135
procura.roma@giustizia.it

Ordine Nazionale dei Giornalisti
Roma 00186 - Lungotevere de' Cenci, 8
Tel. +39.06.686231 Fax +39.06.68804084
http://www.odg.it - e-mail: odg@odg.it