Icing on the cake for Berlusconi

The “attack” against Berlusconi could not have come at a better time for him and his clique. The real icing on the cake.

It arrives at a time when Berlusconi’s star was fading, when his continuous manipulation of the law to avoid trials, his family affairs, and his links with the Mafia, known since tens of years, were putting him against the wall, finally.

Now, thanks to the attack, he is a victim, although he is the one who created the violent political climate the Italian President, just before the incident, was trying to defuse.

He had just attacked the President, the most respected politician in the country, the Constitutional court judges, and the judges at large, all communists according to him, and of course the Press and the public television he controls.

But contrary to what officially his party was preaching, what even the Pope (usual interference with the Italian politics !) had asked for, the cooling down of the political debate, his lieutenants have today worsened it.

As usual, it is another those who changed side (Berlusconi’s party is full of these who jumped on the winning wagon, see for example in this blog “Culture Berlusconi’s way”) was the originator, a certain Fabrizio Cicchitto, a former left wing socialist, who, after almost thirty years in politics, suddenly, in 1999, became a supporter of Berlusconi. True that, like Berlusconi, he had been a member of an infamous right wing secret Masonic lodge, the P2, that conspired against the democracy. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrizio_Cicchitto).

Today, in Parliament, he attacked the press, political opponents, a press group that has been critical of Berlusconi (L’Espresso belonging to a “Jew” who recently also took the Swiss nationality as a sign of thanks to a country that had saved part of his family and for that he is now being quoted as “a foreign editor”) in an extremely violent manner.

Now the Government is after the Internet (that usual scapegoat) and will pass laws to limit free speech both on the Web and in the streets, limiting even further freedom in the country. And the manipulation of the information, already very high through the control Berlusconi has of practically 95% of television channels will continue. It already started, with Facebook groups created for various purposes such as the support for the earthquake victims and whose purpose was modified overnight in pro-Berlusconi groups without the knowledge nor consent of the friends of the group. Another indication of what freedom means for Berlusconi’s party and for himself : freedom of supporting the Prime Minister.

Italian democracy is in danger, if not almost dead. It is not a joke, it is a tragedy. And the recent attack against Berlusconi may be the icing on the cake for him to create a real dictatorship under the excuse of the vote of the majority of the Italians, which was not even the case.

When will finally European leaders react ? they did when the extreme right took power in Austria. But very little time is left before Italy is condemned to be a “real democracy” like Russia, as Berlusconi often says referring to the achievements of his friend Putin.

Photo: http://christianmen.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/icing.jpg

PRESS FREEDON IN ITALY (III)

As Berlusconi said, Italy is the country where there is the largest Press Freedom is the world. He also said that the articles in the international press about Italy were the results of a plot. By attacking the editor of an opposition press group and using his old leitmotiv in a sense he accused the Jews and the communists for organizing such a plot…sounds familiar ?).

On 22 October, though, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

“presented a citation to editor Ezio Mauro for his courage in leading La Repubblica so honorably and bravely in these perilous times. It was awarded in hope and belief that the fight for press freedom in Italy will prevail.
At a time of grave jeopardy for freedom of the press in Italy, La Repubblica under Mauro's editorial guidance has courageously insisted in its pages that government must be accountable to the citizens and that the role of the press is to demand that accountability.
Despite threats, economic pressure and lawsuits seeking millions in damages, La Repubblica has continued to lead the fight for making power accountable and has inspired hundreds of thousands of Italians to join the fight for genuine press freedom.” (Harvard Kennedy School Press release).

Definitely America, after Obama’s election, is becoming a communist party, will think Berlusconi following his old time Republican friends. And Shorenstein and Nieman sound quite Jew names, like that of La Repubblica editor….A Jews and communist international plot, will poor Berlusconi resist ? He really deserves the Peace Nobel Prize ….(see below)

PRESS FREEDOM IN ITALY (II)

Just last week, Mr. Berlusconi stated that Italy did enjoy the highest level of freedom of press in the world. Of course he ignored the fact that in the Spring, Freedom House had placed Italy 71st, the first EU country with a partially free press ! And of course Press freedom for him means : all Press reports to him. Since he is the leader of the Freedom Party, the Press is free. Logical, isn’t it ?

He, and his colleagues, will also ignore the fact that Reporters without border just ranked Italy 49th out of 173 countries in its 2009 Press Freedom index ( http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html ) . After Ghana (27th), Mali (30th), Namibia (35th), Guyana (39th), Surinam (42nd) and Cape Verde (44th) among others !.

It is worth quoting here their assessment of the situation :

“Journalists investigating mafia and gangland activities, particularly in the south, do it at risk of their lives. Around a score of them, including Roberto Saviano, Lirio Abbate, Rosanna Capacchione and others still live under police protection. One phenomenon affecting the world of sport is the rise of threats against journalists specialising in football from groups of violent supporters often expressed by chanting and banners inside the football stadiums.

The Italian press can fall victim to a range of reprisals involving torching of cars and doors of their homes, threatening letters and intimidation of their families, all in the guise of “advice” given to those who persist in exposing what has gone wrong in Italian society. The grip of mafia groups on the media has become so threatening that in 2009 these groups were added to Reporters Without Borders’ list of press freedom predators.

In an anomalous situation within the European Union, prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi still controls the three channels of public RAI television as well as the leading privately owned radio and television group Mediaset, increasing political interference in their editorial lines and fostering self-censorship on the part of a section of the profession. Television which remains the main source of news for 80% of the population also attracts the lion’s share of national advertising revenue. The law promulgated by the Italian communications minister Maurizio Gasparri removed all limits on the distribution of advertising revenue, opening the door to an often massive “reorientation” in favour national television channels, particularly those belonging to the Berlusconi family.

Other recurrent problems remain, such as recruitment to the profession which is still extremely rule-bound. Those wishing to enter journalism have to pass a competitive exam and must become members of a professional body. Defamation remains a crime and the right of access to public or private information is not in practice respected.

The draft law on the publication of legal steps, which is currently under debate, contains serious threats for investigative journalism, proposing among other things a ban on publishing phone-tapping ordered by a prosecutor, until the completion of an investigation. The publication ban also applies to the work of investigative commissions. Once the draft law was adopted, journalists would from then on be unable to inform the public about any arrests, seizures or searches ordered by judges. Publication of steps, conversations or communications - the destruction of which had been ordered by a prosecutor - would still remain banned. A journalist or media violating this secrecy would face a prison sentence or very heavy fines and a three-month ban on exercising their profession.” (©Reporter swithout borders, 2009).

This is not just a ranking, it is the confirmation that Italy is sinking in a sort of dictatorship world politicians decided to ignore.


Image: © Reporters without Borders 2009

Freedom of press in Italy

Next three October, the Italian association of journalists will hold, with the support of hundred of thousand of people, from simple citizen to 10 Nobel Prize winners, from all over the world, will demonstrate for freedom of press in Italy.

The recent events, silence of the Berlusconi’s affairs on public television while the world press was writing dozens of articles, (not to talk about his private channels), attacks to the director of the catholic press, critical of the immoral behaviour of the PM, misrepresenting the documents, taking to court magazines who criticize him, are at the origin of this protest.

Yesterday, asked about such demonstration, he declared that “it is an real joke, in Italy there is more freedom of Press than in any other country”.

Regrettably he forgot that Freedom House, in its 2009 report, placed Italy at the 71st rank out of 195, the first in the category of countries with “partially free press”, just before Turkey: the only two western European countries without “free press”.

The same day he made his statement, the Economist wrote : “Since Mussolini, this is the first Italian government interfering with media in such an clear and alarming way. Journalists and the other Italuans, have thousand reasons to protest”. But this is a communist periodical, it is well known.

Idiots X : French censure

The camera of a public service television captures a French Minister, and not a little one, that of Interior, very close to Sarkozy, and quite obnoxious like his president, making a derogatory comment about North-African immigrants.

The movie is shown by Le Monde. And a political uproar ensues. And what happens ?

More than one million hits on the net to see the sequence.
The opposition calling for the Minister’s, Brice Hortefeux, resignation.
His party defending him stating that the images had been cut and put together just to embarrass him.
His party stating that the images had been taken with a portable phone, thus taken illegally in a sense.

But when the public TV shows the entire sequence and such line of defence cannot stand any longer, what happens ?

Mr Copé, the President’s party leader at the French House, staets that the Internet is a “danger for democracy”. Funny for someone who has his own website that includes videos. In other words, Internet is a danger when it is not controlled by the President friends….He added on a separate occasion that there is the need to debate “the role that we are going to leave to Internet in the area of information”.

Another (in)famous friend of and special advisor of Sarkozy, a certain Guaino, states that the “absolute transparency (of the internet) is the beginning of totalitarism”, nothing less.

As Le Monde dated 14/9/09 points out these statements are in line with a position taken by Sakozy, well known for the way he appreciates criticism, since 2007. He can ask (and obtain from) his friends who own TVs and newspapers to stop the publication of information (or the firing of journalists, like the Director of Paris Match, a few years ago, for publishing embarrassing pictures !) but he cannot do anything against the WEB.

How jealous he and his servants must be of the Chinese leaders, and even of the little Tunisian president, for their control of the net ….

Funnily enough, Sarko and his friends look more and more like El Berlusca and his friends: what matters is not whether an information is true or not, what matters is what information one lets it through. This is the real danger for democracy. Once again Sarko and El Berlusca look alike: little (not only physically) dictators.

Photo: bonaberi.com