The Italian news agency ANSA, reports that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) urged Italy today to drop or amend a contested bill aimed at restricting the use of wiretaps and their publication before trials. The OSCE called on the Italian government to withdraw the current measure and modify it to bring it into line with international standards guaranteeing freedom of the press. The legislation in its current form apparently provides among other objectionable provisions, the possibility of a prison sentence for anyone who is not a “professional journalist” who records or films a person without their prior approval. From across the Atlantic, the Berlusconi Government’s recent actions are being watched anxiously. Italiana abroad who value freedom of the press as an indispensable ingredient of a healthy democracy are wondering quo vadis Italia?
