[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:14804] Italian Neo Fascists behind Seizure of Indymedia Servers?

[Al Kagan]

FYI

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Chuck0 <chuck at mutualaid.org>
> Date: October 11, 2004 8:30:38 PM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Cc: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom List <alaoif at ala.org>, 
> srrtac-l at ala.org, a-librarians <a-librarians at lists.mutualaid.org>, 
> Anarchy Mailing List <anarchy-list at lists.village.Virginia.EDU>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:14804] Italian Neo Fascists behind Seizure of 
> Indymedia Servers?
> Reply-To: srrtac-l at ala.org
>
> Italian Neo Fascists behind Seizure of Indymedia Servers?
> 	
> 	
> posted by Damiano Valgolio (repost) on Monday October 11 2004 @ 
> 06:20PM PDT
> 	
> 	
> Fascism The Censorers Trace leads to Rome and Zurich
>
> Cutoff of Indymedia: FBI agent speaks of "legal aid". Investigations 
> against the internet portal running in Switzerland and Italy. Neo 
> fascists said to be the driving force.
>
> Three days after central servers of international news portal 
> indymedia have been seized, the background remains obscure. It seems, 
> however, that criminal proceedings against media activists in Italy 
> and Switzerland are the cause for the cloak-and-dagger operation. Past 
> thursday night, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had 
> ordered confiscation of host systems of internet provider Rackspace in 
> San Antonio, Texas (USA) and London (UK). Along these, dozens of 
> national Indymedia pages were connected. Since then the leftist online 
> media is severely handicapped across about 20 countries world-wide. In 
> many countries, amongst which are Italy and Great Britain, Indymedia 
> has completely vanished from the internet.
>
> Last weekend, the FBI has again announced that the seizure was not 
> done on their own initiative but carried out within the scope of a 
> "legal aid" for foreign authorities. "The request came from 
> Switzerland and Italy", senior FBI offical Joe Parris stated towards 
> french news agency AFP.
>
> Meanwhile, Switzerland is maintaining a low profile. Daniel Zapelli, 
> senior federal prosecutor of the Genf canton, only confirmed that 
> ascertainments against Indymedia. It is intended to criminalize the 
> coverage in connection with the protests against the G8 meeting in 
> Evian in summer of 2003.
>
> Back then, images of two plainclothes policemen who were involved in a 
> media center escalade had been published on the swiss spin-off of the 
> leftist internet platform. Of both executives, who were said to have 
> organized riots as agent provocateurs in the city center of Geneve, 
> names and addresses were published, too. Marc Olderlin, the attorney 
> of the two swiss members of the secret police, acknowledged contacts 
> between swiss federal authorities and the FBI, reports italian 
> newspaper "Il Manifesto". "But, as far as I know, there has not been a 
> request for detention of the Indymedia servers", the lawyer says.
>
> Meanwhile, federal prosecutor of Bologna (IT) Marina Plazzi stated 
> that she is investigating against Indymedia because of a possible 
> "support of terrorism". Apparently this is about supposedly positive 
> contributions after an impact on italian soldiers in iraqi city of 
> Nassirija past november. "We asked the FBI for help along the italian 
> department of justice", federal prosecutor Plazzi states. The italian 
> minister of justice, Roberto Castelli, so far refused to speak out on 
> the proceeding of the FBI.
>
> Clearly less reticiant are the parlamentarian representatives of the 
> italian government parties. On sunday, Mario Landolfi, spokesman of 
> post fascist "Aleanza Nazionale" (AN), announced the seizure of the 
> computers served "the enforcement of the law". Already in november, 17 
> AN delegates including the granddaugther of Benito Mussolini had 
> demanded the close-down of Indymedia in a consolidated statement. Back 
> then, Paolo Valentino, state secretary in the department of justice 
> and also a member of AN, had announced a possible cooperation with the 
> USA.
>
> In contrary, severe criticism on the repression against the leftist 
> internet portal rooted from the italian opposition. Left wing party 
> member and assitant chairman of the commission of justice of the 
> italian parliament Paolo Cento spoke of a "bad, authoritarian 
> incident" and demanded an immediate comment of the government. 
> Meanwhile, communist E.U. (European Union) delegate Marco Rizzo 
> announced he will add the incident to the EU parliament agenda.
>
>
> Link: http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/112083.shtml
> Related at Infoshop: 
> http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/10/6620551
> Source: http://www.jungewelt.de/2004/10-11/006.php
>
>

Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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