Mary_H
Philosopher
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,253
Originally Posted by New Yorker
Such circumstances in Italy can seriously interfere with the willingness of witnesses to come forward. No one wants to risk prison time simply to be a witness to help the police with something that does not necessarily involve them. Italy needs to change its laws so that witnesses will feel free to come forward to provide testimony about crimes and other wrongs they might know about. "
The statutes of "calunia" amount to a lock-down on dissent from both outside and within the judiciary and police in Italy.
Actually the statute of calunnia is part of a cultural pattern much more harmful to police than to the possible accused "victim" of the calunnia. The statute of calunnia protects the main suspect, which in this case at the time was Patrick Lumumba. It is more a problem for justice and police when nobody comes forward as a witness, which is the typical Italian tendence.
In Italy, nobody is obliged to become a witness, as long as he/she is not questioned by the police. If you have information on a crime and you remain silent in order to avoid becoming a witness, you are in the right by the Italian law, and probably this is most people's choice. Many people won't come to testify as long as they are not sought out by somebody and dragged to the magistrate.
On the other hand, once a person is questioned as a witness, there is no 5th emendament to appeal, and you don't have great means to protect your privacy. Citizens have great rights that protect them from becoming witnesses, but witnesses don't have many rights, and they are often perceived in a negative light by the common culture.
Do you see any connection between what "New Yorker" wrote and the "typical Italian tendency" to not come forward as a witness? How about between what you wrote in your last paragraph and the reluctance of people to come forward as witnesses? Do you think the laws followed the people's tendencies, or the people's tendencies followed the laws?
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