Nico Grancea, a Roma author singer, will perform in Corsico (Milan) on July 13 to protest against the direct trials that violate the universal Declaration of Human Rights and deny to the accused, the chance to defend himself.
Gruppo EveryOne: "Nico Grancea asks to the civil world to protest against a judiciary abuse which has become institutionalized, an unfair and repressive penal procedure, according to which each of us can be condemned to a prison term without investigation or the constitutional right to contradict.
We ask for intervention on the part of European justice so that all the direct trials be eliminated, and that the victims of such a macroscopic violence of human rights be released from prison.
Sunday, July 13 Nico Grancea, a young Roma author singer who lives in Italy, a member of the Gruppo EveryOne, will hold a concert in Corsico (Milan), during an anti-racist encounter, “Storia, cultura, antiziganismo e musica Rom”, where speakers Roberto Malini, Ernesto Rossi, Dijana Pavlovic and Maurizio Pagani will participate. Nico Grancea’s performance, which will be accompanied by the great Serb Roma accordianist, Jovica Jovic, will be a hymn against the persecution of the Roma people in Italy. The young performer will touch a problem that has been underestimated in Italy: the use of direct trial as an instrument of oppression against the Roma and the more vulnerable citizens. "When a Roma family goes into an abandoned building to find shelter against bad weather conditions and to escape danger of aggression, it is automatically subject to persecution procedures”, states Nico. "Any person with some common sense would consent to a poor family the right to a temporary refuge, since they don’t have the financial means to rent a home. At the most, following the report on behalf of the building owner, they should be made to leave the building they used for shelter since they had no means. But that is not the way things are. When the police or Carabinieri receive a report, they notify the adults who found refuge in a private building, that they are guilty of illegal occupation, and this entails a sentence of two to six years in prison." Nico Grancea knows very well how tough the law can be in regard to Roma who are forced to go from a bridge to a park, from a house to an abandoned factory. "Yes, it happened to my family too, as for all the Roma families. Last year my mother had an operation. She had a kidney removed. She was operated in Milan by doctors who were not very professional and when she was dismissed from the hospital, she was very sick. When we were made to leave our settlement in Sesto San Giovanni, we left Lombardy and went to Pesaro, where we found refugee in an industrial building. The alternative was that of leaving my mother in the middle of the street. The owner of the building reported us and the police came and forced us to leave, without giving us any alternative. Nobody helped us… not the social services or religious associations. After we left, we experienced terrible months.
Our story was like that of Mary and Joseph when they fled to Egypt to avoid being arrested by the soldiers of Herod.". But Nico and his father not only had to face the problem of poverty, of alienation and living outdoors. "When the police kicked us out of the building,” the Roma musician continues, “we were notified the offense of illegal occupation of a private building. The verdict is already written because the magistrate will condemn us to prison. There will not be a regular trial, there will be no right to a defense attorney. Since we were caught during the offense, we will be put directly on trial and will not have any rights. In fact, the judge will be able to condemn us without even summoning us. We won’t even see the magistrate who will announce the verdict, and therefore, will not be able to explain the reasons we were in that building. One day the police will come get us and take us to prison.". Thousands of Roma men and women were put in jail in our country, because of the direct trial procedure and must stay there without benefiting from the right to self defense. Nico Grancea is a third generation child of the Holocaust. His grandfather survived the Zigeunerlager in Auschwitz-Birkenau and was condemned, like his grandson, without being able to defend himself. "The direct trials are one of the biggest violations of human rights in existence”, state the leaders of Gruppo
EveryOne Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau, "because they deny even the minimum legal safeguard of the individual.
We know of many cases of Roma and immigrants who were condemned as a result of that ridiculous procedure. There are also numerous cases that deal with Italian citizens. If we want to defend Democracy and civil living, we must protest with all our might to the direct trials. Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at item 1, states that every individual accused of an offence is considered innocent until legally proven guilty in a public trial where he has had full guarantee of defence”. This does not take place in Italy and the direct trial procedure allows the police forces to become judges on the street, denying the rights to a citizen to a regular trial. Our group asks for the intervention of the European Court of Justice so that all these direct trials be eliminated and that the victims of this macroscopic violation of human rights be immediately released.” With great courage, Nico Grancea has decided to stay in Italy despite what he is risking, and to face the possibility of going to jail, even if he is not guilty of anything. "I will dedicate my performance in Corsico to all the Roma and the other citizens in prison because of the direct trials, who have lost their freedom without having the right to express their reasons.” The encounter on Sunday, July 13 in Corsico will be held at the Area Pozzi, in via Alzaia Naviglio Trento, at 4 p.m. Nico Grancea’s performance will be held around 8 p.m..
For further information:
EveryOne Group
Tel: (+ 39) 331-3585406 - (+ 39) 334-8429527
