(2004/C 78 E/0242)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3201/03

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 October 2003)

Subject:   Search at the ‘Il Giornale’ head office in Rome: violation of freedom of the press in Italy

On Friday 17 October 2003, the head office of the leading Italian daily newspaper ‘Il Giornale’, which is investigating the purchase of Telekom Serbia by Telecom Italia, was searched by order of the Court of Perugia. At the end of this search, which was carried out by the police and lasted a good 13 hours, a large quantity of material belonging to the journalist Gian Marco Chiocci was confiscated. It appears that the only crime he is alleged to have committed is that of defaming a Rome judge in the press.

Does the Commission not consider the decisions taken to represent a blatant violation of the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression?

Does it not feel that these decisions violate the recommendations made by the Council of Ministers of the EU to the Member States on 8 March 2003, according to which interception, surveillance, searches and confiscation should not be used to circumvent the right of journalists not to reveal their sources?

Does it not consider the decisions by the Court of Perugia to run contrary to the renowned Goodwin ruling handed down by the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which gave legal substance to journalists' right to the professional secret.

Does it not consider the decisions by the Court of Perugia also to run contrary to ruling No 33400/96 of the Strasbourg court, which deems searches conducted with the intention of discovering journalists' sources to be an outright violation of the freedom of expression?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(2 December 2003)

The search carried out at the head office of ‘Il Giornale’ by order of the Perugia public prosecutor's office is the sole responsibility of the national authorities responsible for organising the justice system in Italy. Given that Community law is not at issue here, the Commission takes the view that it is not in a position to answer the questions raised by the Honourable Member.

It should be noted that anybody who considers that his fundamental rights have been infringed may take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights once all domestic legal remedies have been exhausted.