The president of the judiciary's
left-wing faction Magistratura Democratica Silvia Albano, one of
six judges in the immigration unit of Rome's tribunal who nixed
the detention of the first group of migrants taken to a
processing facility Italy has just opened in Albania, said on
Sunday that she has no intention of clashing with the government
while accusing the cabinet of seeking conflict.
"I have no intention of seeking a clash with the government, it
is the government that wants to clash with me and I want to
avoid it", Albano said on the sidelines of the congress in Rome
of Magistratura Democratica, one of the factions within the
National Association of Magistrates (ANM), the judiciary's
union.
"There has been an insufferable personalization.
"There are judges who are trying to do their jobs and a
unanimous opinion has been expressed by all communities of
jurists, from the Union of criminal chambers", which represents
Italian criminal lawyers, to "the associations of professors of
European Union law: they have all said nothing can be done on
the primacy of European legislation", said Albano.
Albano was among the judges who did not validate the detention
of the first group of 12 migrants taken to Albania, stating that
their countries of provenance - Bangladesh and Egypt - could not
be considered safe based on an October 4 ruling of the European
Court of Justice.
The Rome court's ruling on October 18, which led to the migrants
being taken back to Italy from the newly opened centre, was
slammed by leading government members including Justice Minister
Carlo Nordio who described it as "abnormal" and said judges had
failed to fully understand the meaning of the European court's
sentence because it was very complex and "written in French".
After the ruling, the government on October 21 approved a new
decree listing 19 countries, including Egypt and Bangladesh, as
safe, saying courts cannot rule against it on the basis of the
October 4 European Court of Justice on which the Rome court's
decision was based.
Albano on October 24 reported to the State attorney's office in
Rome that she has received death threats.
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