ITALY PASSES NEW SECURITY LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000960

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM IT
SUBJECT: ITALY PASSES NEW SECURITY LAW

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Classified By: A/Political M/C Gabriel Escobar for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Italian Senate approved the security
package on July 25, finalizing one of the more controversial
and complicated pieces of legislation passed since the
Berlusconi government took office in May. Rooted in campaign
promises to improve security on Italian streets and crack
down on organized crime, criticisms have targeted the tougher
penalties linked to illegal immigration and provisions
designed to neutralize the premier's personal legal problems.
The parts of the package that have drawn the most attention
focus on illegal immigration, fast-tracking serious crimes,
raising penalties for public order offenses, and allowing up
to 3,000 troops to patrol Italian streets. END SUMMARY.

TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
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2. (U) The package introduces new powers and higher penalties
for activities related to illegal immigration. With its
extensive coastline and island outposts, Italy is an obvious
destination for immigrants attempting to enter clandestinely
the European Union by sea. Italy's temporary detention
centers will be transformed into "centers of identification
and expulsion," where suspected illegal migrants can be
detained for up to 18 months while authorities seek to
establish their identity. Before, people could be held for
only 2 months. Though widely criticized, this is consistent
with a June EU directive on immigration.


3. (U) People who profit from illegal immigration face
stiffer punishment. Landlords who lease property to illegal
immigrants can receive to up to three years in jail and have
the rental property confiscated. Penalties for hiring
immigrants without work permits have been tightened.


4. (U) Immigrants from other EU countries may also find a
less forgiving environment. Registration will be required to
be considered a legal resident, and residence permits for
immediate relatives of legal immigrants have become more
restrictive. If convicted of a crime, illegal or
non-registered residents may find their sentences lengthened
by a third. Judges have greater discretion to expel foreign
nationals who commit crimes, and those sentenced to two years
or more in jail will be expelled. Previously, the threshold
was a 10-year sentence. New criteria have been established
on the ability to expel EU citizens on grounds of "public
morality."

TRIALS FOR SERIOUS CRIMES JUMP THE QUEUE
--------------


5. (U) One significant change in the final law was the
narrowing of the "trial freeze" or "save-the-Premier"
provision. The original decree would have put an automatic
one-year freeze on trials for offenses committed before June
30, 2002 and which carry a penalty of 10 years or less.
Courts would also have been required to try "serious crimes"
immediately. After the judiciary and political opposition
protested that this was designed expressly to block court
cases against Prime Minister Berlusconi, it was changed to
give courts the discretion, not the obligation, to advance
the trials for more serious offenses and freeze trials for
minor crimes for up to 18 months. Under the new definition,
serious crimes are those punishable by 4 or more years in
prison, must have been committed after May 2, 2006, and
involve mafia and terrorism-related crimes, violations of
workplace safety codes, traffic offenses or illegal
immigration.


6. (U) Another change to legal process is that defendants can
plea bargain once their trial is under way, and not just in
the initial grand jury phase. This does not apply for such
serious offenses as organized crime or murder, and cannot
happen during appeal.

NEW MEASURES FOR URBAN SECURITY
--------------


7. (U) During the election, Berlusconi's coalition promised
to improve security in Italian cities. The security package
increases penalties for public order offenses such as damage
to property. If a public emergency is declared, governments
of large cities can ask for soldiers to be deployed to assist
the police with patrol and other duties. Up to 3,000
soldiers can be used for up to six months at a time.

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8. (U) Homicide of a member of the security or police forces
is now punishable by life imprisonment. Crimes against
vulnerable people, including the elderly and disabled, can be
treated as an aggravating circumstance.


9. (SBU) Forcing others to beg is now a crime; in practical
terms this provision is most likely to be aimed at Roma
adults who put children on the street to beg. In another
measure aimed at Roma in Italy, mayors have been granted the
authority to close down illegal camps.


10. (U) The penalty for causing injury or death while driving
intoxicated has been raised from 3 to 10 years, with driving
licenses and vehicles liable to be seized.

LONGER JAIL TIME FOR ASSOCIATING WITH MAFIA
--------------


11. (U) In addition to fast-tracking, maximum penalties for
association with the mafia have been raised from six to eight
years in jail, and association with foreign mobs is now
covered. People convicted of Mafia-related crimes no longer
qualify for free legal aid. While not solely applicable to
organized crime, new norms make it easier to destroy seized
contraband goods.

SEPARATE LAW GRANTS IMMUNITY
--------------


12. (U) In return for loosening the trial freeze provisions,
a separate law granted immunity from prosecution to the
President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and the
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The
"save-the-Premier" law or "Lodo Alfano" (after Justice
Minister Alfano) avoids the ambiguities that led a previous
version, the Lodo Schifani, to be knocked down by the
Constitutional Court in 2004.


13. (U) Under the terms of the Lodo Alfano, new cases cannot
be opened against the holders of immunity and ongoing cases
are put into abeyance. Officials have immunity for as long
as they stay in the post. If the government falls but the
prime minister forms another cabinet without holding new
elections, immunity remains in effect. Time spent in office
does not affect the statute of limitations, as the clock is
stopped while these office holders are in government and is
restarted again once immunity is lifted.

FINGERPRINTING IS COVERED IN BUDGET LAW
--------------


14. (C) The proposal to include fingerprints on national
identity cards has been included in an amendment to the
budget law, which is still in parliament. Nationwide
fingerprinting was proposed to deflect the outcry over
fingerprinting the largely Roma residents of illegal camps in
Naples, Rome and Milan with no valid identification papers.
The current fingerprinting initiative has been narrowed
repeatedly in response to legal and public challenges, and
some records that were initially gathered will likely now be
destroyed.

COMMENT
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15. (C) The government's legislative program over the past
three months set the stage for a fall program of ambitious
reforms. Berlusconi's center-right coalition campaigned hard
and effectively on a law-and-order platform that promised to
deal severely with mobsters, hoodlums and immigrants who
commit crimes in Italy. The security law allows the
government to say it has delivered on a core campaign
promise. No matter how controversial, opinion polls indicate
the Italian public wants and supports the security package.
Looking ahead to the fall parliamentary session, the immunity
law could free Berlusconi to move his agenda forward without
the personal and media distraction of pending court cases.
END COMMENT.
SPOGLI