Front Line Urgent Action: Italy. Judicial harassment of EveryOne Group’s human rights defenders

Urgent appeal issued by Front Line, the international foundation for the protection of human rights defenders throughout the world in relation to the judicial harassment in Italy of the activists of EveryOne Group, and in particular of its co-presidents Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro and Dario Picciau.

Following the penal order sentencing Malini and Picciau for supposedly “disturbing a police operation” in Pesaro in December 2008, Malini, Pegoraro and Picciau came under a year-long investigation on the order of the Deputy Public Prosecutor from Pesaro Court.

At the end of the investigation the three co-presidents were deemed guilty of the crimes attributed to them and sentenced according to article 368 of Italian criminal law. The activists were accused of “slander” ("calunnia" in Italian, a crime that can be carried out as a matter of course from the Penal Court) against a councillor from the Pesaro Municipality and the person in charge of the local social services. And all because they had sent two letters – one addressed to the Pesaro institutions and civil society, the other to the magistrates – in which they pointed out the “abuse of power” being carried out by the social services and the illegal removal (due to poverty) of a Roma child from her biological parents.

We are therefore asking politicians, human rights organizations, associations, those who fight for individual liberty and for the defence of human and civil rights in particular, to forward the Front Line appeal to others: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/2597/action and to sign the online petition.

Related articles (EveryOne)

Italy. Threats and intimidation against human rights defender Mr Roberto Malini
Front Line Urgent Action: Italy. Judicial harassment of EveryOne Group’s human rights defenders

Italy, two human rights defenders from EveryOne Group receive a penal order for their humanitarian work

Front Line takes action on behalf of EveryOne Group
EveryOne Activists: the Euro MP, Renate Weber, poses a parliamentary question to the European Council and European Commission

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya (with the case of EveryOne Group): http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/docs/A.HRC.16.44.Add.1_EFSonly.pdf

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders - Annual Report 2010 (with the case of EveryOne Group): http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/2010/OBS2009UK-full.pdf

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/2375

http://lolodiklo.blogspot.com/2010/02/justice-in-italy.html
http://thegypsyconnection.blogspot.com/2010/02/urgetn-call-to-action-italy-human.html
http://sfoglia.corriereadriatico.it/Articolo?aId=959034
http://www.unionromani.org/notis/noti2010-02-22c.htm
http://www.protectionline.org/Roberto-Malini-and-Mr-Dario,9239.html

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/docs/A.HRC.16.44.Add.1_EFSonly.pdf

http://www.omct.org/files/2010/09/20875/obs_uk_2010___europe.pdf

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Roma_Italia/message/1995

http://www.romadecade.org/bulletin_board/page/list/3/10/0/0/1

http://thegypsyconnection.blogspot.com/2010/02/urgetn-call-to-action-italy-human.html

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/13981

http://www.paxgaea.com/HRItaly.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Romano_Liloro/message/2514

https://gayswithoutborders.wordpress.com/category/roberto-malini/

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/world/2010/02/446313.html