A controversial prisoner pardon bill which would free up to 20,000 inmates was signed into law on Monday by President Giorgio Napolitano. The bill, which triggered a heated row in the government, was definitively approved by the Senate on Saturday evening with the majority of opposition senators joining the centre left in voting in favour.
The amnesty is aimed at easing chronic overcrowding in Italy's jails and cuts prison sentences by three years for crimes committed before May 2, 2006. It was fiercely opposed by Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro, a famous former anti-graft prosecutor who heads the small Italy of Values party, because it includes financial, accounting and corruption crimes.
Di Pietro staged repeated protests in front of parliament and briefly suspended himself from his duties in a bid to convince his coalition to exclude these crimes. But Forza Italia, the opposition party headed by former premier Silvio Berlusconi, made it clear it would not support the measure unless they were included.
Since amnesty measures require the approval of two-thirds of parliament, the bill would have sunk without opposition backing.
Center-left supporters of the pardon argued that the inclusion of white-collar crimes was a small price to pay for an essential act of clemency to improve allegedly inhumane prison conditions.
Italy's 205 prisons currently hold 61,400 inmates when their official capacity is just 41,730 while some 36% of inmates are still awaiting definitive convictions. Justice Minister Clemente Mastella denied claims that the centre left had done a deal with the opposition, describing the amnesty as a "noble gesture of clemency".
Mastella, who heads the centrist, Catholic UDEUR party, stressed that serious crimes such as Mafia crimes, terrorism, rape, paedophilia and human trafficking were excluded and that the pardon was essential for easing overcrowding. He also said it was in accordance with the wishes of the late pope, John Paul II, who made repeated appeals to parliament for an amnesty.
When the measure was approved on Saturday, the jubilant minister immediately dedicated it to John Paul while the Vatican expressed its "great satisfaction". But Di Pietro accused the centre left of "selling its dignity" and said the alleged pact with Forza Italia was an example of "mafioso-style vote trading".
As it stands, the amnesty bill could benefit Cesare Previti, a close aide of Berlusconi who has been sentenced to six years for bribing judges. Previti, Berlusconi's former attorney, is serving his sentence under house arrest. Since the measure applies to crimes committed before May 2006, Di Pietro says it could also help Berlusconi, who is to stand trial for alleged fraud at his private TV network Mediaset; those involved in the bank takeover probe which led to the resignation of Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio; and those on trial for the fraudulent bankruptcy of dairy
giant Parmalat.
Di Pietro stressed that only 450 people are currently in jail for white-collar crimes and that defending their release in terms of the need to relieve overcrowding made no sense. His anger grew last week after the centre left joined the opposition in defeating an amendment which would have
excluded those found guilty of Mafia-linked vote buying.
"This is a terrible example to set, particularly for this government, which pledged discontinuity with the ad personam laws of the Berlusconi government and instead makes its first act an unprecedented whitewash," he said. When it was in opposition, the centre left repeatedly railed against Berlusconi for passing allegedly self-serving or 'ad personam' laws, particularly in the justice field, charges which the media magnate always denied.
But the amnesty was no less divisive for Berlusconi's own four-way opposition coalition.
While Forza Italia and the centrist, Catholic UDC supported the measure, the rightist National Alliance (AN) and the devolutionist Northern League voted against on the grounds that criminals should serve their terms. They said the bill would free hundreds of potentially dangerous criminals and petty crooks.
Former Milan chief prosecutor Gerardo D'Ambrosio, who was elected senator in the April general election and is a member of the Democratic Left, joined the attack on Monday. "I wouldn't have become a senator if I'd have known... A total of 94% of centre-left voters are against this amnesty and yet the governing coalition went ahead regardless," he said in an interview published by the La Repubblica daily.
D'Ambrosio said the centre left had jeopardised public safety and its relations with its voters while leaving magistrates to work on trials which were already destined to end with the amnesty application. "The immediate disastrous effect is that people are convinced that they risk nothing by breaking the law, being corrupt and dodging taxes," he said.
The last full-scale prisoner amnesty approved in Italy was in April 1990. Repeated attempts to get others passed since then have all failed.
An amnesty bid was roundly rejected by parliament earlier this year, with rebel parties on both sides joining forces to defeat the measure.
John Paul II appealed for an amnesty in a historic address to parliament in November 2002.
Parliament subsequently approved an 'indultino' (mini-pardon) pardoning thousands of inmates. The measure suspended the last two years for minor offenders who had already served at least half their terms.
