No freedom of speech in Italy...

[jaxmike]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...500470_pf.html

Indicted for writing words on paper. Nice. Politically correct censorship???

[kurto]

Reminds me of neocons.

Remember this thread? In regards to Newsweek's article about the Koran (which an FBI report now released corroborates that the claims were made)... a neoncon on this board said:

[ QUOTE ]
I believe those responsible at Newsweek should be tried for murder.


[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps some of the Republicans here are advising the Italians?

[publius]

first of all, it is not censorship. censorship implies the restriction of speech, and she was allowed to publish her nonsense and say whatever she pleased, she is being indicted after the fact.

in the U.S, i believe (correct me if i'm wrong) the term is 'no prior restraint', which means that one is free to publish and say whatever one pleases, but not necessarily protected from prosecution after the fact in the case of incitement or obscenity.

the author is being prosecuted for defamation, which in the U.S. is not a criminal offense (one can be sued by the defamed party, however). appearently there is a criminal statute in italy covering defamation. she is also being prosecuted for 'inciting religious hatred', which i would assume is the more serious charge. not having read her work, i am not able to comment direcly on the merits of the case, but, again, it is not censorship.

'censorship' is one of the most commonly misused words in political discourse.

[ripdog]

I might agree with you overall, but I don't think this article is proof of anything. I have read that the Italian PM owns much of the media in that country. I find that more disturbing than the indictment of an author who may have incited religious hatred. Here's a link if it intrests you:

anomoly in Italy

[Cyrus]

[ QUOTE ]
ROME (Reuters) - link A judge has ordered best-selling writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci to stand trial in her native Italy on charges she defamed Islam in a recent book.
State prosecutors originally dismissed accusations of defamation from an Italian Muslim organization, and said Fallaci should not stand trial because she was merely exercising her right to freedom of speech.

But a preliminary judge in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, Armando Grasso, rejected the prosecutors advice at a hearing on Tuesday and said Fallaci should be indicted.


[/ QUOTE ]

If the case does indeed find its way to the Italian courts, you will have a point about restriction of the right to free speech. But such cases are routinely examined and never get to court, wherever freedom of speech is duly protected, in Italy and other parts of the civilised world, which includes arguably the United States.

Even if this gets to trial, I would expect the case to be either thrown out by the judge or for the journalist to be unceremoniously declared totally innocent of all charges.

Anything less than that and it would be another black day in Berlusconi's Italy. (A poster already noted that the Italian PM has built his media empire on account of precisely that freedom of speech! How else would he inundate Italian airwaves with junk and make out like a bandit?)