From a prosecutors point of view

May 21st, 2010|Sasha James
Law

S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.

Breuer, at a roundtable with reporters on organized crime, was repeatedly asked about a draft law that the center-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to push through parliament soon.

Opponents of the law, including some prominent anti-Mafia magistrates, say it would set back the fight against organized crime by decades and that a number of top Mafia bosses now in jail would not have been captured under the new rules.

Breuer, in Italy for a commemoration of magistrates killed by the Mafia, stressed that he did not want to interfere in internal politics but nonetheless made clear that the United States was concerned about any weakening of magistrates powers.

What I will say is that the existing system of wiretaps has been extraordinarily helpful. Italian law enforcement under the existing system has been an extraordinary partner to the United States so we very much value that, he said.

While there were many facets to anti-Mafia probes, including access to financial records, he said there is no question that wiretaps are an essential piece of these investigations, they have always been and they will continue to be.

MAGISTRATES OPPOSE CHANGES

Under the draft law, which goes before the full Senate next week, magistrates would be able to order wiretaps only if they had serious evidence that a crime had been committed.

The taps would have to be approved by a panel of three judges and would last a maximum of 75 daysexcept in the case of mafia and terrorism investigations.

Special authorization would be needed to tap the phones of priests and parliamentarians.

Antonio Ingroia, an anti-Mafia magistrate who worked with several prosecutors killed by the Mafia in the 1990s, told an Italian newspaper on Friday I am alive thanks to wiretaps.

Ingroia said that if he had to work under the proposed restrictions, two top Mafia bosses now in prison would still be free.

Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said in a statement the new bill did not change the rules for mafia and terrorism crimes, but critics of the measure say some restrictions would apply even to those cases.

Too many things in whats being announced, said or feared do not correspond to the text of the bill, Alfano said.

The Italian media also is up in arms over the legislation because it would slap fines and jail sentences on newspapers that publish transcripts.

While Berlusconis center-right coalition says it wants to protect privacy, opponents say the government is just scrambling to cover up widespread corruption in its ranks with yet another tailor-made law.

Writing by Philip Pullella additional reporting by Silvia Aloisi editing by Michael Taylor source