Salis case and Mattarella’s phone call: the comment
Dearest Mr Head of StateI don’t understand why, as I read, you corresponded by telephone to a letter from the anxious father of the well-known Italian martyr in Hungarian hands: you are not Zorro who rightes wrongs and makes good triumph; nor does this initiative of yours fall within your institutional competences: do you respond or make someone respond to anyone who turns to you for help? […]. She also cares about all the approximately 2,600 Italians detained in a plurality of Foreign states, especially non-Europeans? I do not think so. You know my devotion and the immense esteem I have for her and, even before her, for her unforgettable father Bernardo and for her brothers Piersanti and Antonino.
I don’t want to think that this initiative of yours – inevitably public – was taken by you in support of your political party of reference, namely the PD. Given that the anxious father of the Italian martyr in Hungary should examine his conscience on the values that she passed on to his daughter and not invite the Italian government to examine his conscience, very recently the General Raymond Caria (a Soldier with a capital “S”) intervened on the problem in question by intelligently exposing not so much opinions as numbers.
I bring to your attention the numerical data provided by Gen. Raimondo Caria which indicate the radical difference between our judicial system and the Hungarian one. This emerges from the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg with regard to the period 1959 – 2021:- Italy is the third state in the ranking of states that have violated the Rome Convention of 1950; after Turkey and Russia, it has been convicted 2,466 times, Hungary 614; – Italy has been convicted 9 times for torture and Hungary never; – Italy has been convicted 297 times for violation of “due process” ” and Hungary 33 times;- Italy has been convicted 1,203 times for excessive length of civil and even criminal trials, Hungary 344 times.
General Raimondo Caria also recalls that in Italy:
– more than a detained out of three have been in prison custody for more than six months awaiting trial;
– in Italy from 1991 to 2022 there were around 30,000 cases of judicial errors, around 961 citizens were put in prison every year, and convicted, even if they were innocent;
– the overcrowding of Italian prisons does not only concern prisoners but also and above all mice, cockroaches and bedbugs, with an overcrowding of 119% compared to regulatory spaces;
– in Italy there were 85 cases of suicide in prison by 2022 and 40% of prisons were built before 1900; not all prisons (almost half) have hot water or showers, nor personalized diets and adequate medical care. […]
Illustrious and beloved Mr. Head of State, do you not believe that judging from the cheerful and sometimes even opinionated appearance, from the well-groomed clothing and hair of the very democratic Italian girl, anything can be said other than that she is mistreated (apart from the shackles on her ankles and wrists as is the tradition specifically of our American masters, but in reality we do it too and you will surely remember the identical case of the Hon. Enzo Carra translated into chains in Court). I am absolutely certain that you fully agree with the intrinsic injustice of the Italian judicial system which deprives us of any right to claim, in our presumption, to give lessons in democracy and civilization to anyone.
You see, dear Mattarellahe could well have saved himself one phone call not only useless but also detrimental not only to the Ilaria Salis, but also for herself. Allow me to make a truly pacifying suggestion for everyone: instead of wasting time on the phone, you too should eat one of our beautiful martorana lambs on this Easter Monday.
*Full professor of European Community law, University of Rome “La Sapienza” and practicing lawyer before the Higher Judiciary, in Italy and the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg.