May 28 2008
Journalists need protection from Mafia, says rights group
Rome — An Italian media rights watchdog, Information Safety and Freedom, has launched an appeal for greater protection for journalists reporting on the Mafia in Italy.
“We launch an appeal to international associations for the freedom of the press because we want to keep watch over the safety of our colleagues in Italy who operate in the areas controlled by the Mafia,” said Stefano Marcelli, the president of ISF on Wednesday.
Marcelli was speaking at the Foreign Press Association in Rome.
“They are in the same conditions as war correspondents. The Mafia is a fact, a news item, that one cannot think about censuring. It is one of the problems of Italian democracy that must be resolved,” he said.
Marcelli was joined by Frank Smyth, from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Roberto Natale, president of the Federation for Italian Journalists.
Deputy director of the Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI), Ahmad Rafat, chaired the conference.
“In a country where security appears to be the most urgent theme, we still have not fully understood how severe the attack of the Mafia is on citizens and journalists in particular,” said Natale.
“Why doesn’t the the media give the same amount of space to Mafia crimes and trials as they do to private crimes?”
“We ask the managing editors and editors to rise above the threshold of attention on this theme. It is the only way to defend our colleagues on the front line,” he said.
Frank Smyth then made an appeal to “journalists of various nations” who “have to work together to bring attention to attacks against journalists, irrespective of where they come from.”
“In particular, escaping punishment for the murder of journalists remains the greatest threat to freedom of the press in the world today.”
A report about Mafia attacks on Italian journalists was also presented during Wednesday’s meeting.
Journalists need protection from Mafia, says rights group - 28 May - AKI - http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2204299290
