Press Interpreter

05/25/05 -- An Italian judge has ordered Oriana Fallaci, an American author of Italian descent, to stand in court on a charge of defaming Islam, which has infuriated the Italian Justice Minister, but delighted representatives of Muslim emigrants.

The judge, Armando Grasso, has refused the advice of the prosecution enclosed in a dossier, deeming that her most recent book The Force of Reason, which was published last year, contained phrases “that, without any doubt, offend Islam and those who embrace this faith.�

The confirmation of Fallaci’s entrance came after the suit raised by Adel Smith, president of the Union of Italian Muslims, who welcomed the decision of the court, “because it is the first time a judge has ordered someone to stand in court for the defamation of the Islamic faith.�

18 Sentences

Grasso reckoned 18 sentences found within Fallaci’s book to be offensive to Islam, such as “Europe is becoming more and more a colony of Islam,� and “to believe in the existence of a good Islam and a bad Islam goes against all reason,� as well as “the Islamic faith sows hatred in the place of love and slavery in the place of freedom.�

The Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli [*] considered the decision an assault against the freedom of expression. The Italian news service ANSA reported his statement that the book “contains extremely strong criticism without defamation,� while Ugo Fanuzzi, the personal lawyer for the prosecution, deemed it unlikely that the scope of the charges would be broadened to include inciting hatred between religions.

Fallaci (75 years old) lives in New York, and has issued a number of books since the attacks on September/Aylul 11, such as Rage and Pride, in which she found fault with Islam and asserted the superiority of Western civilization over Islamic civilization.

[*] Roberto Castelli is a member of the right-wing separatist “Northern League� party. This party was largely responsible for Italy's controversial new immigration law, the Bossi-Fini law, named after its chief sponsors, the leaders of the Northern League and the "post-fascist" National Alliance party, respectively. He made these remarks during an interview with the right-wing Radio Padania.

[Full Article]

--Translated by C.G. Häberl

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