Posted on 01/26/2005 7:25:31 AM PST by ijcr
Italy has been a supporter of the US-led war in Iraq A bitter row has broken out in Italy over a decision by a Milan judge to dismiss international terrorist charges against five Islamic fundamentalists.
The men, detained in Italy last year, were accused of recruiting guerrillas and suicide bombers to go to Iraq.
But a judge said they could not be prosecuted under new anti-terrorism laws as they were self-styled guerrilla fighters, not terrorists.
Justice Minister Roberto Castelli sent inspectors to examine the ruling.
Alarm bells rang in the justice ministry as soon as the verdict was pronounced on Monday.
The minister has threatened disciplinary action against the judge, Clementina Forleo.
The reaction to her judgement was immediate. Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the decision gave him the shivers. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said the judgement was incredible.
His predecessor, Franco Frattini, now deputy president of the European Commission in Brussels, said Italy now risked becoming a free zone for extremists.
The judge herself said she was calm and had only followed her conscience and applied the law. Members of the alleged Islamic cell could not be prosecuted for violent acts or as guerrilla fighters in the context of a war.
"They cannot be classified as terrorists," she said.
A national debate has begun in Italy on the semantic difference between a terrorist and a guerrilla fighter. On one side there is the National Association of Magistrates, who are standing four-square behind their colleague in Milan and defending the independence of the judiciary.
On the other, there are the incredulous politicians who see Italy's anti-terrorist laws, brought in after 11 September 2001, being shot down in flames.
Turin's La Stampa published a front page cartoon showing President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi crying over the coffin of the latest Italian soldier to die in Iraq.
The dead soldier says: "Don't cry Mr President, I was killed by the resistance, not by terrorism."
Is there ever going to come a day when Westerners finally fight back against political correctness and TERRORISTS who live among us?
This judge must be a regular poster on DU.
Judge, Clementina Forleo, said, "They could not be prosecuted under new anti-terrorism laws as they were self-styled guerrilla fighters, not terrorists."
Judge Forle sounds like Michael Moore in drag in a female judge's robes.
EXCUSE ME!
So, by that idiotic "judgment," anyone who commits
murder or assassination cannot be tried since their
lawyer can claim the accused is merely a self-styled
guerilla? Doesn't the Mafia meet that criteria?
I'd watch my butt were I that Judge!
Life can be so unpredictable.. perhaps they might meet with an accident...
It makes perfect sense for liberals to claim that the terrorists are legitimate combatants. Liberals spend so much time complaining about how the terrorists don't get Geneva Convention protections, and those only apply to legitimate combatants.
What a great idea! Allow the accused to select which system of laws they wish to have used against them, based on whatever label or title they grant themselves. Brilliant!
Italy's governing methods are often dysfunctional, but the good thing about it is that the government will probably succeed in removing this judge. If it were the U.S., she'd be absolutely safe to issue this kind of judgment. But in this case I expect the Justice Minister will probably prevail.
I'm sorry to say this about my country but...that's the italian justice, it doesn't really work and I'm not sure that the judge will be removed...and even if she will, there are many many others just as bad as her...
Thant's not the Italy I'm proud of.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.