The Italian Cabinet adopted a bill today providing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with immunity from prosecution for corruption, just as a case against him for--you guessed it, corruption--was about to reach a verdict. Mr. Berlusconi is charged with arranging a $600,000 bribe for misleading evidence in previous corruption trials. Additionally, the Prime Minister introduced a security bill which allows phone tapping and the imprisonment of journalists for counterterrorism purposes, and creates an ethnic registry for those of Roma descent. According to the bill, the Italian Government will fingerprint all those in Roma camps, including children. Roberto Maroni, the Interior Minister, swears it is not an ethnic registry, but a way to "provide further guarantees of the rights" of Roma, by assuring "those who have the right to stay can live in decent conditions" and those who do not can be sent home.
I hate to break it to Mr. Maroni, but whatever his claimed intentions are do not change the fact that he is targeting Romani for special surveillance by the government. This is reminiscent of Romani persecution in Germany, pre and post 1933. Read about it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment