Press, journalists' union against the "gag"

The journalists' union against the "gag law". In a statement, the Fnsi says no "to state censorship", and is ready "to mobilise", inviting the head of state not to sign.

«On 19 December – we read in the document – the Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to the code of criminal procedure to prohibit the publication of precautionary orders, in full or in extract, until the end of the preliminary hearing».

The text, presented by Enrico Costa (Action), was voted by the entire parliamentary spectrum, with the exception of M5S, Pd and Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra.

«Even if the Senate were to approve the law – continues the document – the autonomy of journalists would be compressed. We would be forced to be less precise, analytical and verifiable in the account of an act that is public such as the deprivation of personal liberty, with the risk of knowing very little until the preliminary hearing, several months or years after the alleged crime. Just two examples of journalistic investigations that have found, in the freedom to inform, reasons to get to the truth and provide justice: the case of Stefano Cucchi, the story of the cable car that crashed from Mottarone".

According to the Fnsi "everyone would be harmed: the citizens who consume the news, the magistrates, the lawyers and those subjected to the precautionary measure".

«After the Cartabia reform on the presumption of innocence – continues the note –, the Balboni PDL on defamation which provides for huge fines, Nordio's crackdown on wiretapping, this is the latest attempt to undermine correct information and adds to a scenario made increasingly fragile in recent years due to the increase in precarious employment in the world of journalistic work with articles paid a few euros, the hundreds of states of crisis with which publishers have impoverished the editorial offices and the constant economic setback due to a contract that has been stuck for years. A free journalist is a journalist who has no gags, but who is also sure of his working future."

«We strongly reject – continues the note – the implication that exists behind this rule. Journalists tell stories and do not invent, they are not "managers", but rather they contribute to making the field of democracy alive with their work of monitoring every power. And we do not act illegally: we are subjected to a set of criminal, civil and regulatory/ordinary rules that determine our profession. For the National Federation of the Italian Press, the Regional Press Associations and the Editorial Committees, therefore, this is yet another gag on information, as well as representing a further imbalance in our legal and constitutional system. The approved text goes beyond European provisions and violates Article 21 of the Constitution. The administration of justice in private is always a defeat for democracy."

(Unioneonline)