Italy’s crucifixes in classrooms ‘violate rights’

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy violates parents's right to educate their children along secular lines by displaying crucifixes in classrooms.

AFP – Italy violates parents’ right to educate their children along secular lines by displaying crucifixes in classrooms, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday.

The judgment sparked anger in Catholic Italy, with the country’s education minister attacking the decision, insisting the crucifix was a “symbol of our tradition”.

The Strasbourg court found that: “The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities… restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions.”

It also restricted the “right of children to believe or not to believe,” the seven judges ruling on the case said.

The case was brought by Soile Lautsi, who was also awarded 5,000 euros (7,400 dollars) in damages.

The ruling drew immediate criticism in Italy, where Lautsi’s efforts to change tradition have come up against stiff resistance from the Catholic establishment.

Years of legal wrangling saw the case eventually thrown out by judges in Italy, who ruled the crucifix was patriotic and a sign of the country’s tradition, not simply a symbol of Catholicism.

Italian Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini lashed out at the European court on Tuesday for its decision.

“The presence of the crucifix in classrooms is not a sign of belief in Catholicism, rather it is a symbol of our tradition,” said the minister, cited by ANSA news agency.

“No one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity,” she added.

Lautsi first brought the case eight years ago when her children, Dataico and Sami Albertin, aged 11 and 13, went to a state school in the spa town of Abano Terme near Venice.

She was unhappy crucifixes were present in every classroom and complained to the school.

After education chiefs refused to remove the crosses, she spent several years fighting the decision through the Italian courts.

The case was heard by a regional court in the northern Veneto region, which passed it to the constitutional court, according to a statement from the European rights court.

This court ruled it did not have the jurisdiction to judge the case.

It returned to the Veneto court, where it was dismissed on the grounds that the crucifix was “the symbol of Italian history and culture, and consequently of Italian identity,” the European rights court said.

Lautsi appealed to the council of state, which also slapped down her complaint on similar grounds. This paved the way for the battle to head to the European Court of Human Rights.

On Tuesday, the Strasbourg court found the display of crucifixes “could reasonably be associated with Catholicism”.

This did not fit in with “educational pluralism”, which was part of European rights charters recognised by Italy, the court said.

The presence of a crucifix in classrooms could also be “disturbing for pupils who practised other religions or were atheists, particularly if they belonged to religious minorities.”

The court ruled that displaying crucifixes in classrooms breached articles 2 and 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Times defends Taliban ‘bribes’ story

A leading newspaper in Britain has defended its claim that Taliban fighters were paid not to attack Italian troops in Afghanistan. The Times said it had proof that bribes were offered, despite furious denials from Rome. The paper revealed that the Taliban itself confirmed the story, backing up information from sources inside NATO.

“The reason we know about those payments is because the US intelligence services, according to our sources inside NATO, managed to tap phone conversations between insurgent commanders and Italian intelligence agents,” said Times reporter Tom Coghlan.

The Times said a deal was struck last year whereby militants were paid not to attack Italian forces operating east of Kabul. A local Taliban commander has now said it was agreed that neither side should target the other. Two senior Afghan officials have also confirmed the story.

In Rome, the Italian government reacted with outrage, accusing The Times of being anti-Italian.

“No government has ever worked in the way The Times has described,” said Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa. “I find it hateful that this newspaper seems to be repeatedly running a campaign of anti-Italianism, using all sorts of rubbish without checking. They just publish the report.”

The alleged bribes came to light when French troops replaced the Italians but knew nothing about any payments. The Taliban said it thought the Italians had reneged on the deal and attacked, killing 10 French soldiers.

Embattled Berlusconi slams foreign press

euronews-Silvio Berlusconi has launched a scathing attack on the foreign press at the end of a tumultuous week for the Italian prime minister.

Already dogged by accusations of sex with prostitutes, Berlusconi’s own law giving him immunity from prosecution was declared invalid by Italy’s top court.

He told a rally for his People of Freedom Party that foreign newspapers had made “absurd and ridiculous accusations that damage the image of the country.” He added, using terms that are unsuitable for broadcast, that the accusations badmouth Italy, its prime minister, and its democracy.

The Constitutional Court’s decision to invalidate the immunity law is supported by nearly six in ten Italians, according to opinion polls on Sunday morning.

But only a quarter of people asked thought there should be elections to cut short Berlusconi’s term of office, which is due to end in 2013.

The verdict paves the way for the resumption of trials against him relating to allegations of bribery and false accounting at his Mediaset company.

Berlusconi rejects immunity ruling as ‘farce’

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has dismissed the loss of his legal immunity as a politically-motivated farce. Italy’s highest court said that a law passed by Berlusconi’s government protecting him from legal action violates the constitution. Berlusconi retorted that the ruling was driven by politics:

euronews channel-“We have a minority of leftist ‘red’ judges who use the law in their political struggle,” he said. “72 per cent of the media in Italy is left-wing. The cases against me they want to re-open are utterly false. I am going to have to spend some of my working day ridiculing my accusers. But these sort of things give me a buzz, as they do all Italians. Viva Italia, viva Berlusconi!”

The Constitutional Court ruled that the immunity legislation violates the principle that all Italians are equal under the law. The prime minister’s lawyers had argued that he should be considered ‘first above equals’ but the judges rejected that.

The controversial law halted all cases against Berlusconi, including one where he is accused of bribing a British lawyer to give false testimony to protect his business dealings.

The leader of the opposition, Dario Franceschini said:

“The Constitutional Court has simply re-established a principle that had been violated: that all Italian citizens are equal before the law. Everyone is equal before the law, even the most powerful.”

The ruling comes as Berlusconi watches his until-now good approval ratings slide because of a series of sex scandals, including prostitutes being invited to parties at his home. One of the girls went public with explicit recordings of her time spent with the prime minister.

Berlusconi no longer above the law

Italy’s top court has ruled that a law giving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution is unconstitutional.

euronews channel-The law was one of Berlusconi’s first acts after he formed his latest government last year.

Today’s verdict paves the way for two trials against him relating to false accounting and bribery to be re-opened. It could also spell trouble for his government.

A judicial source at the Constitutional Court told Reuters news agency that the 15 judges decided the legal immunity violated the principle that all citizens are equal before the law. They added that immunity would require a change to the constitution, not just a law passed in parliament.

A spokesman for Berlusconi has said the verdict is politically-motivated and that the prime minister would stay on in office.