WRITTEN QUESTION E-0651/01

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(8 March 2001)

Subject: Prosecution of citizens from the Veneto region for unlawful defence of a criminal act who showed solidarity with the group which occupied the San Marco bell tower in 1997

A group of citizens from the Veneto region who, in the Cartura area in 1997, peacefully demonstrated their solidarity with a group called the Serenissimi which occupied the San Marco bell tower in Venice as a protest, will be put on trial in the next few days in the Padua courts for the unlawful defence of a criminal act.

According to the state prosecutor, the accused are responsible for displaying placards claiming that the so-called Serenissimi were heroes and patriots, and as a result they risk being found guilty of a crime which could result in them being sent to prison.

This criminal prosecution is, in reality, a trial of the peacefully voiced ideas of citizens of a Member State of the European Union and constitutes a breach of the right to free speech enjoyed by all individuals.

Does the Council not consider that the action taken by the Italian judicial authorities is in breach of one of the most basic of human rights and the right to free speech, as enshrined in the Treaty, international instruments governing human rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights?

Reply

(13 July 2001)

The Council would like to inform the Honourable Member of the European Parliament that the maintenance of law and order as well as the safeguarding of internal security is a responsibility incumbent upon the Member States which is not affected by Title VI of the Treaty on European Union.