[A-List] Italy: Massive Protest Against Berlusconi

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Moretti Leads Massive Protest Against Berlusconi
Sat Sep 14, Rueters
By Luke Baker

ROME (Reuters) - An estimated 300,000 people, led by film
director Nanni Moretti, demonstrated in Rome on Saturday in
protest against Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi, accusing him of
using his political power to evade justice.

Under banners proclaiming "Justice for all" and "No justice
without democracy," the crowd filled the square in front of
Rome's San Giovanni basilica, where Pope John Paul ( news - web
sites) has in the past said mass for as many as 500,000 people.

Reuters cameramen and photographers at the scene estimated the
crowd at least 300,000, while police said there were 100,000 and
the organizers claimed more than 500,000.

The demonstration was called to oppose Berlusconi's plans to
change the justice laws in a way critics say is tailor-made to
help him escape trial on charges of bribing judges.

Moretti, who won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival (
news - web sites) two years ago and has become the unofficial
leader of the anti-Berlusconi movement, made a speech accusing
the conservative leader of ignorance of the meaning of democracy.

"Berlusconi isn't against democracy, he's just a stranger to it
because he doesn't know what it is, doesn't understand it and
considers it a huge waste of his time," the 49-year-old director
said to cheers and applause from the crowd.

"We have been branded extremists, but that's not the case... It's
just that we like our constitution and we were at first
perplexed, then astonished and finally completely pissed off with
what is going on in this country."

As Moretti spoke, lawmakers in Italy's lower house were meeting
to debate the new justice bill, which would give defendants the
right to ask for a new trial if they could show a "legitimate
suspicion" that the judges trying them were biased.

Supporters say it is necessary to ensure that all Italians have
the right to a fair trial, and deny it favors the billionaire
politician.

Proposed by an ally of Berlusconi, the bill was approved by the
Senate in July after a bitter and angry debate, and must now be
passed by the lower house before it can become law.

Berlusconi has largely tried to avoid the arguments over the
bill, and on Saturday met President Bush ( news - web sites) at
Camp David for talks on disarming Iraq.

There have been dozens of protests against Berlusconi since he
came to power in June last year, but most of them have been
organized by the political opposition or the labor union
movement. Saturday's was the first large independent protest.

BRIBERY CHARGES

Berlusconi, 65, and his close ally Cesare Previti, a former
defense minister, are due to go on trial in Milan later this year
on charges of bribing judges in the mid-1980s to win control of
SME, a food company.

They deny the charges and say judges in the north Italian city
are running a politically motivated vendetta against them.

Berlusconi's lawyers argue that their client cannot get a fair
trial in Milan because the city's magistrates, who led the
investigation into high-level political corruption in the early
1990s which brought down a government, have a left-wing bias.

Moretti and other leading intellectuals on the Italian left,
including Nobel literature laureate Dario Fo, see the justice
bill as one of several new laws introduced by Berlusconi's
government that they say have undermined democracy.

They also say there are unresolved conflicts between Berlusconi's
political power and his business interests, as the billionaire
media mogul not only runs the country but also controls the
biggest independent broadcaster and oversees state TV.

Saturday's demonstration was carried live on the only free-to-air
national channel that is neither owned by Berlusconi's media
company nor run by the government. While Moretti, whose films
"Caro Diario" (Dear Diary) and "Aprile" are openly political,
says he has no interest in entering politics, he is being talked
about as the conscience and saviour of the Italian left.

He has tried to stop such talk, but on Saturday chastised the
opposition leadership, which is widely seen as having been
ineffectual against Berlusconi.

"Please, stop fighting one another," Moretti told the various
parties that make up the Left. "Talk about politics, talk about
public schooling, talk about war and peace, but please, stop
talking about nothing."

Article at:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020914/wl_nm/
italy_demonstration_dc_1