Frank Sfarzo - Blogger Hero
Maxine K. signed
just now
Adam B. signed
just now
The undersigned are a group of individuals who, over the course of the last four years, have come together in various on-line forums to support Amanda Knox, the now-24 year old Seattle native who was unjustly accused, initially convicted and ultimately acquitted of having murdered her roommate, Meredith Kercher, while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Our purpose in signing this letter is to share with you a perspective on the Knox story that we believe you will find interesting and, if pursued, could make a great basis for a film.
We are motivated first and foremost by a common desire to see Amanda Knox’s story told well, but also, to help win much deserved recognition for an individual who we have all come to view as a friend; the journalist and blogger-hero, Frank Sfarzo. We believe that if you should chose to make a film about the Kercher murder using the story of Frank Sfarzo as your narrative vehicle, both of these objectives might be faithfully achieved.
The case of Amanda Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito’s alleged participation in Meredith Kercher’s murder created an international sensation. In addition to the intense media coverage surrounding the case (a simple Google search of the phrase “Amanda Knox” produces, as of this writing, 14.3 million hits), the story has become the subject of several books and one (awful) made for TV movie. More books are certainly planned and future movie dramatizations of the story are inevitable.
While there are any number of possible perspectives from which to tell the Kercher story, we believe that one of the most interesting lies in the parallel story of the Perugian blogger, Frank Sfarzo.
In November 2007, when Ms. Kercher was found murdered in the cottage she shared with two Italian women and Amanda Knox, Frank was a seldom-employed freelance journalist. When Ms. Knox and Mr. Sollecito, along with Patrick Lamumba, a local Congolese bar owner, were arrested a few days later for the crime, media interest in the case sparked a tsunami of tabloid coverage. Sensing an opportunity to capitalize on this interest, Frank quickly set up the English-language blog, “Perugia Shock” as a vehicle through which he could monetize the world’s seemingly insatiable curiosity about Amanda Knox, an attractive American girl who, according to prevailing tabloid wisdom, had gone abroad to study in Italy and then behaved badly.
Although not a Perugia native, Frank had lived in the Umbrian college town for several years; first, as a student and later, as essentially a local hanger-on. Subsisting largely on support from his moderately affluent family and, to a lesser degree, his writing, Frank floated at the edge of the University town’s after-school world and, as he aged, became something of a local “character”. Every town has a Frank - the man who never quite grew up, who is known and generally liked by all, but from whom little is feared and even less is expected. This assessment, as events would later demonstrate, proved to be woefully inaccurate.
Frank quickly immersed himself in the details of the case and, in keeping with his theme and the expectations of his audience, dutifully recounted in “Perugia Shock” the horror of Kercher’s murder and lurid details about the insidious young couple who, according to the official police story, had ended Kercher’s life. Initially, Frank’s contacts and credibility as a “local” won him access to investigators and many key witnesses. Exploiting these, Frank was able to offer a unique local perspective to the case that quickly won his blog a modest following. Further, he surfaced important details of the case that were completely missed by mainstream media, and which later became critical to understanding the Kercher murder story.
Like almost everyone else in the world, Frank initially believed that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were exactly what the Perugian authorities said they were; depraved monsters. However, Frank’s life on the edge of Perugian society had endowed him with an instinctive distrust of police and, over time, he became suspicious about things he was being told by local authorities. As the inconsistencies in the police’s story mounted, Frank began to doubt. Tentatively at first, and then with increasing vehemence his concerns found their way into his blog posts. These suspicions ultimately ripened into full-scale disbelief and, in April 2008, six months after Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s arrest, Frank Sfarzo declared on “Perugia Shock” that he believed the couple were innocent of Meredith’s murder.
This opinion instantly made Frank an outsider on several fronts. While the world’s tabloid media was congenitally predisposed to vilify Knox at every turn, Umbrian reporters were simply afraid to upset the local authorities by having anything critical to say about the manner in which the police conducted the Kercher investigation. Worse still was the fact that as a result of his pro-innocence posts Frank became the subject of a sustained program of covert and overt abuse at the hands of the police and the lead prosecutor in the Kercher case, Guiliano Mignini.
Mignini is an influential and powerful man in a small, provincial town. Notwithstanding the local veneration he enjoyed (or, some would argue, the fear he engendered), Mignini had serious image problems – he had become internationally infamous as a result of the unflattering portrait presented in Douglas Person and Mario Spezi’s bestseller, “The Monster of Florence” and, during the course of the Amanda Knox affair, was convicted on unrelated abuse of office charges in connection with wiretaps he’d authorized on Italian journalists. While there was little he could do to mitigate the humiliating damage to his personal reputation that resulted from these circumstances, critical posts from a near-indigent local blogger was a provocation not to be tolerated.
Beginning in October 2008 and continuing through the final day of Knox and Sollecito’s appeal in October 2011 Frank was subjected to police intimidation ranging from hostile stares on the street to an illegal home invasion, arrest and brief imprisonment. During the course of Frank’s arrest, the police tried to have him committed to a mental hospital. They presented his notebooks on the Kercher murder as evidence of his instability, and tried to argue that he was a lunatic obsessed with the case. The attending psychologist refused to commit him.
In May 2010 Mignini briefly shut “Perugia Shock” down by filing an injunction against Frank’s webhost, Google. Fortunately supporters had archived the latest entries of Frank’s blogs, and when Google complied with Mignini’s order these supporters rallied to help reestablish “Perugia Shock” with a different webhost. These and other concerns related to Mignini’s treatment of Frank were expressed in an April 19, 2011 letter (see attached) to Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano from the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.
Meanwhile, in the United States and elsewhere, the suspicion began to grow that Amanda Knox was not the “she-devil” or, in Italian, “Luciferina” painted by the prosecution and dutifully repeated in much of the world’s tabloid media. Slowly, mainstream news organizations caught up to Frank and began publishing articles and producing news shows suggesting (if not outright saying) that Knox was the innocent victim of a “railroad job from Hell”. In addition to this partial shift in media perception, support groups dedicated to understanding the Kercher story and freeing Knox and Sollecito began to gain large followings.
For many who participated in these groups, “Perugia Shock” became an indispensable source of information, and Frank, who attended every court hearing, the reliable eyes and ears in Perugia who could be counted on to report on important details and nuances that the mainstream media overlooked. Frank, with his candid and irreverent reporting in the face of prosecutorial and police abuse, became a hero.
The undersigned believe that the story of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito is one that deserves to be told, well and true. It is not just a murder mystery, although it can certainly be told as one. It is not just a tale of innocence abused, although it can certainly be told as one. It is a story of courage and fortitude in the face of incredible evil. It is the story of impossible victims, improbable heroes and the petty human absurdities that united them. We believe that Amanda and Raffaele’s story, told through the lens of Frank Sfarzo’s experiences would make a fine film.
The undersigned have no financial interest in Frank Sfarzo or his work, nor do we “represent” him in any legal sense. We are, in addition to being beneficiaries of his courage, merely friends and admirers. After reviewing this appeal, should you wish to discuss Frank’s story, we urge you to contact him directly at 2befrank@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
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Attachment:
April 19, 2011
His Excellency Giorgio Napolitano
President of the Italian Republic
Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Roma
Italia
Via email: presidenza.repubblica@quirinale.it
Dear President Napolitano,
The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending the rights of journalists worldwide, is deeply concerned about local authorities' harassment of journalists and media outlets who criticize the official investigation into the November 2007 brutal murderof British exchange student Meredith Kercher in the central Italian city of Perugia. CPJ is particularly troubled by the manifest intolerance to criticism displayed by Perugia Public Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, who has filed or threatened to file criminal lawsuits against individual reporters, writers, and press outlets, both in Italy and the United States, in connection with the Kercher murder investigation as well as the investigation into the Monster of Florence serial killings.
• Italiano
The Kercher murder investigation was headed by Mignini and conducted by a Perugia police unit known as the Squadra Mobile. Mignini was also in charge of the latest investigation into the unsolved murders of eight couples in Tuscany between 1968 and 1985, collectively known as the Monster of Florence killings because of the especially cruel manner in which the victims were slain.
The anti-press actions of Squadra Mobile under Mignini's supervision, coupled with Mignini's longstanding record of harassment of journalists who criticize his conduct on the job, cause the press to stay away from sensitive subjects, including important developments in the Kercher case such as the appeal of two defendants in the case. CPJ is particularly concerned about the impact Perugia authorities' repressive actions have on local reporters and individual bloggers, who lack the support and backing of major publications. These individuals are most vulnerable to official retaliation for their work, including legal prosecution and physical attack.
As the appeal of the defendants--U.S. student Amanda Knox and Italian student Raffaele Sollecito--continues at the appellate court of Perugia (Corte di Assise di Appello di Perugia), we call on you to ensure that journalists, writers, and bloggers are able to report and comment on the proceedings freely and without fear of reprisal.
Of the cases that have come to CPJ's attention, one stands out because of the abusive actions employed by members of Squadra Mobile to punish a critic of the official Kercher murder inquiry. Local freelance reporter Frank Sfarzo created his English-language blog Perugia Shock in 2007, days after Kercher's gruesome murder. Based in Perugia, Sfarzo became interested in the case from the start, posting reporting and comments on it on his blog. Sfarzo regularly criticized what he considered flaws in the Kercher investigation, at times using harsh language to express his views.
Sfarzo told CPJ his troubles started on October 28, 2008, the day Knox and Sollecito were indicted and a third defendant was convicted of murdering Kercher. Several members of Squadra Mobile, Sfarzo told CPJ, approached him just outside the city court (Corte di Assisedi Perugia) and started to push and hit him. "You are pissing us off!"--they told him, referring to his coverage.
When the trial of Knox and Sollecito began that December, Squadra Mobile continued to harass him. They regularly tried to prevent him from entering the court; seized his cellphone and went through his contacts and text messages; mouthed insults at him from across the courtroom; and stared over his shoulder as he took notes. "This was done in the presence of the judge, the Carabinieri [the military police], and the court guards, but they would do nothing," Sfarzo told CPJ.
The harassment reached its peak on September 28, 2010, when five officers of Squadra Mobile forcibly entered Sfarzo's apartment. They did not produce a warrant or show their badges, Sfarzo told CPJ. Four of the five shoved Sfarzo to the ground, struck him, handcuffed him, and climbed on top of him, crushing his air supply, he told CPJ. They stopped when a neighbor, disturbed by the commotion, showed up, Sfarzo said.
Next, the officers took Sfarzo to the Perugia city hospital, where they claimed he had attacked them; they persuaded a doctor to issue a medical report for the injuries Sfarzo was alleged to have caused. In addition, the Squadra Mobile officers brought Sfarzo before a psychiatrist, demanding that she issue him a certificate of insanity. To prove that Sfarzo was mentally ill, the officers produced Sfarzo's reporter's notebook on the Kercher murder case, which they had seized from his apartment. "They told the doctor that I was pathologically obsessed with the case, that I was so fixated on it I must be insane," Sfarzo told CPJ. The psychiatrist refused to issue the certificate.
From the hospital, the officers brought a handcuffed and injured Sfarzo to their headquarters, where, in the blogger's words, they "displayed me as a trophy," referring to him as "the bastard who defends Amanda [Knox]." The officers refused Sfarzo's requests to call his lawyer or his relatives, and put him in a cell for the night.
The next day, the officers brought Sfarzo before a local judge, who validated his arrest and indicted him on several articles of Italy's penal code for "using violence and threats to resist public officials" and "injuring an officer." Sfarzo was released pending a trial in May. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted. "The police can count on the complicity of judges," Sfarzo told CPJ. Police officers, he added, are sure of their impunity.
CPJ is also concerned that Prosecutor Mignini has filed or threatened to file criminal defamation lawsuits against a number of journalists and media outlets--both in Italy and in the United States--who have criticized his record.
In September 2010, Giangavino Sulas, an investigative reporter with the national weekly newsmagazine Oggi, received an official notification that Mignini had started legal action against him in response to an Oggi article he had published earlier that year, Sulas told CPJ. The article in question criticized the Monster of Florence homicide investigation, which Mignini headed, and mentioned the prosecutor's conviction on abuse of office charges related to his conduct in that case, Sulas said.Oggi editor Umberto Brindani also received two "notices of investigation" that year--dated July 24 and September 2--in relation to the magazine's coverage of the Monster of Florence case, CPJ confirmed. Neither Sulas nor Brindani have received further prosecution notices. (In January 2010, a Florence court handed Mignini a 16-month prison term on, among other charges, illegal wiretapping of journalists who covered the Monster of Florence case. Mignini remains free and on the job while he appeals the sentence.)
Back in 2006, Mignini had veteran crime reporter Mario Spezi imprisoned on a long list of trumped-up charges as retaliation for Spezi's journalistic investigation into the Monster of Florence series of killings. CPJ advocated on Spezi's behalf, Spezi was eventually released, and his work resulted in a best-selling true crime novel, named after the case and cowritten by U.S. writer Douglas Preston. Despite the positive dénouement, in the years after Spezi's release, Mignini has continued to pile up indictments against the journalist in the Monster case. The indictments have been as severe as "complicity to murder," CPJ research shows. In October 2009, when Spezi was attending a preliminary court hearing in one such indictment, he read a statement in his defense, the journalist told CPJ. The statement was sharply critical of Mignini, Spezi told CPJ. Soon after the hearing, the prosecutor indicted Spezi for "offending the honor and prestige of a judge"--a criminal charge that carries up to five years in prison if convicted.
Spezi's trial on that charge took place in February in Florence. He was found guilty in early March and sentenced either to serve 15 days in prison or to pay 570 euros (US$826) in damages to Mignini; Spezi told CPJ he has opted to pay. He and his lawyer are considering an appeal, he said.
CPJ research shows Spezi no longer covers the Monster of Florence case. And the chilling effect of Mignini's anti-press actions has reverberated across the ocean.
Preston, Spezi's co-author who suffered harassment by Mignini himself in 2006--and eventually was forced to leave Italy for fear of imprisonment--told CPJ he was still afraid of going back. He has been unable to clarify his legal status in Italy. In the summer of 2008, Mignini told third parties that he would have Preston arrested if the writer returned, Preston writes in the Afterword to The Monster of Florence paperback edition, published in 2009. When the U.S. State Department contacted Mignini's office to verify whether an arrest warrant in Preston's name indeed existed, Mignini refused to reply, citing concerns for Preston's confidentiality, the author said.
Mignini has used a similar tactic against the U.S. weekly newspaper West Seattle Herald. In late January 2009, the paper published an article that criticized the investigation into the Kercher murder case as lacking in evidence; it also contained a reference to unnamed legal experts who reportedly believed Mignini to be "mentally unstable." The article was published on the web on February 1 of that year and triggered a swift reaction by Mignini. Eleven days later, he told the BBC he had filed a defamation claimagainst the West Seattle Herald. "I am quite a healthy man," the BBC reported Mignini as saying. "I don't go to the doctor much, and I have never visited a psychologist."
In an email interview with CPJ, West Seattle Herald Editor Ken Robinson said the paper had not received any official notifications of legal action. Robinson said that the paper does not fear repercussions from Mignini and that the paper does not send reporters to Italy simply for budgetary concerns.
Robinson said he and his newspaper were not perturbed by the prosecutor's actions, but that is not the case with Joe Cottonwood, another U.S. writer Mignini has threatened with a criminal defamation lawsuit. Cottonwood told CPJ the action stems from a comment related to the Kercher murder case that he emailed to a reporter-friend in Italy. In the comment Cottonwood described Mignini as an "intellectually dishonest bully." The comment was published by the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale in August 2009.
In an email interview, Cottonwood told CPJ he learned of Mignini's intention to file defamation charges against him from the Italian press. (CPJ is trying to confirm whether Mignini has indeed filed the charge.) But whether Mignini has indeed filed the charge or only threatened to do so, Cottonwood is not taking any chances. "I will not return to Italy," the writer told CPJ. "I don't have the financial resources and can't afford to defend myself there."
Your Excellency, we are urging you to ensure that reporters and writers are not afraid to cover, comment on, and criticize the activities of Perugia authorities. This is particularly pressing now that the appeal of two defendants in the Kercher murder case goes on at a local court.
We ask you to ensure that the politically motivated lawsuit against Perugia blogger Frank Sfarzo is immediately scrapped and that outside investigators are assigned to conduct an investigation into the September 28-29, 2010, abusive actions of Squadra Mobile officers against him.
We also call on you, in your capacity as president of Italy's Superior Judicial Council (Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura), to ensure that Perugia prosecutors, including Mignini, are not allowed to use criminal defamation as the proverbial bogeyman against their critics. It is unacceptable that journalists, bloggers, and writers on both sides of the Atlantic should censor themselves by staying away from subjects of public interest such as the Meredith Kercher murder case and the Monster of Florence killings because of Prosecutor Mignini's inability to tolerate the scrutiny that comes with public office. It is also unthinkable that U.S. journalists--who have reported in Italy before and love the country--should not dare go back for fear of being arrested.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We await your response.
Joel Simon
Executive Director
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Attachment 2:
Although not referenced in the text of the letter above, the following is an English tranlation of Frank's blog from January 29, 2011. Although Frank typically blogs in English, this post was directed at his countrymen and so, was written in Italian. It is typical of the kinds of posts that made him hated and feared by Perguian authorities, and respected and admired by those outside of Italy who followed the case.
MILLIONS OF EUROS OF ITALIAN MONEY SPENT BY MIGNINI AND COMODI TO FOLLOW THE THE DREAM TO CONVICT AMANDA KNOX AND RAFFAELE SOLLECITO. AND THEY STILL GO ON!
ITALY, STOP THEM!
The bill for Mignini and Comodi’s Video-Game has also arrived: Perugians, pay 182,000 Euros!
While Italians are saving, Mignini and Comodi, maintained in luxury and with privileges, celebrate.
150,000 Euros a year, with 45 days of paid leave, and with a license to unlimited spending. Is it not perhaps the least they deserve, given their great competence, their great respect for the law and for the public good, that they have demonstrated?
How do they say thank-you? Throwing everybody in prison and creating trials and disasters repeatedly. In any case, the Italians pay for it.
Other than just themselves having fun, they entertain also the rest of us. For years, and with fabulous fantasies.
BEAUTIFUL STORIES
21 professionals/satanists spent their lives committing crimes and covering them up (and in their spare time, perhaps even working…).
They had hidden the body of Narducci at the bottom of the lake, and in its place they made it so that another was found (a volunteer?). Then they had it switched again, making the other body disappear.
Cardinal Giordano, in between one act of charity and another, headed an organization of crime…
Brigitta Bulgari, a professional stripper, had committed a serious crime: a strip. But thanks to a large operation conducted across all of Italy, the dangerous criminal in hiding was caught near the border, and thrown in prison to be tried in Perugia…
A couple of Libyan students were Gheddafi’s most important secret agents. Where were they? In Moscow? Montecarlo? Did they commute between New York, Dubai and Geneva? No, they were in Perugia… Who knows what extraordinary technological means they had! Yes, a mobile phone… Who knows what treasures, vaults full of bullion, shares, monetary shares! Yes, one gram of dope under a brick…
But thanks to a kingly operation conducted by Mignini, fortunately they were caught right when they were about to pull off a coup d’etat. A strange type of coup d’etat, without weapons, without troops, without money, without a motive, without a plan, and to be carried out probably while dreaming, seeing as they “stopped” them while they were peacefully sleepiong in their houses: in Perugia…
THE MEREDITH CASE, A MASTERPIECE COSTING AT LEAST 50 MILLION EUROS
But Mignini and company’s masterpiece remains the case of Amanda and Raffaele, unmatched given the exceptional ratio of costs/returns, or maybe it would be better to say costs/losses. Unmatched, therefore, yes: in the story of disasters.
Why would Amanda and Raffaele have murdered Meredith? Ask him: NOT EVEN HE KNOWS!
They had performed a beautiful black mass (still with the satanism, then!), even with a final human sacrifice (then they went to put on some music…). Actually, no:
Amanda did not get on with Meredith. Instead of changing house, therefore, she had found a more practical solution: KILL HER! (after having had her sexually assaulted, of course). Actually, no:
“FOR NOTHING”! Yes, whether you believe it or not, this was the last motive proposed by the fantastic duo Mignini-Comodi.
Not being able to find a motive, in the end they had to admit that, for Amanda and Raffaele, there was no motive, and so there was no murder committed by them.
But they asked nevertheless for their conviction! The great Public Ministers think that they can condemn people “FOR NOTHING”! Just like that, without proof, without a motive, without anything… Just for fun.
What have they achieved in 4 years, instead of working? What have they brought? They say it themselves: “Nothing”! After having made Italians spend tens of millions of Euros what did they present? With “NOTHING”! Never mind the evidence, because anyway some are in the habit of convicting without proof. But after 4 years they have not proposed even a shred of a motive. And they say it unperturbed, they even find it really funny.
Amanda and Raffaele had murdered their friend in collusion with Patrick, a 40 year-old barman (that instead of enjoying the company of his wife and child, he went off to have a little orgy with a murderous ending). Actually, no:
With Rudi, a 20 year-old drifter that they didn’t even know.
The two proficient criminals and expert biologists, had then removed only their own DNA but had left the other’s (just to be called in for their part once they had arrested him…).
The assassin was already in prison, nailed by a mountain of evidence and by a perfect motive. Indeed, already convicted.
But the Mr. and Mrs. 150,000 Euros-per-year wanted at all costs to pursue Amanda and Raffaele and, just to ruin them even more, just to weigh EVEN MORE on the coffers of the state, just to insult still more the Italian people, they even wanted to hold them in prison during the trial! All of this without a valid motive and without a glimmer of evidence.
NEVER A MINIMUM INDICATION OF GUILT AGAINST AMANDA AND RAFFAELE
The imaginary pieces of evidence, in fact, that were used to arrest them on 6th November 2007, had all already secretly collapsed the next day.
Mignini should have already asked for Amanda’s, Raffaele’s and Patrick’s release on the 8th November 2007, seeing as they had discovered the presence of Rudi, and only of Rudi.
The circumstances, however, are kept “confidential” while waiting for evidential “reinforcements” against the couple, that duly will arrive (each to be later revealed, like all the rest, non-existent).
While the ridiculous little written statements of 6th November (in which they had written an alleged “confession”, of the alleged “accusations” and they had made Amanda and Raffaele sign them) were distributed to the press, the interrogation of Amanda on the 15th December was kept strangely secret (not for us). Officially because Amanda “had just cried”. She had cried, yes: after having responded to questions for 6 hours and having clarified absolutely everything. Exactly as she would do, three years later, in the trial, where in great difficulty it was not her that went, but rather those that questioned her: the great Public Ministers Mignini and Comodi.
RESULTS
Outcome: 8 years of unjust detention. Cost: between stay and continuous transfers Capanne-Perugia, Capanne-Terni, Terni-Perugia, Terni-Verona, with imposing [police] escort, at least 300 Euros a day. That makes almost one million Euros already spent, to which we need to add at least 1 million for upcoming compensations. Actually, 1 million and a half, because poor Patrick, for 14 days in prison, expects 512,000 Euros from the Italian people, not one Euro less. Indeed he has made a request to the European Court of Human Rights! If the request were to be heard, therefore, Amanda and Raffaele should get, in proportion, 53 Million Euros each. Let’s hope they are accepted.
Numbers to Combat the Mafia
39,952 intercepted telephone calls, months of video surveillance with spying interpreters included (with Amanda that waved to the “hidden” video camera: “Hi! I’m innocent, remember that!”), an interpreter infiltrated even among the journalists, scientific tests, consultancies and travels all on full cylinders. ALL STRICTLY USELESS FROM THE START.
An investigation of incredibile costs, 3 trials for the precautionary remand, a never ending preliminary trial, a trial in Corte d’Assise, an appeal trial in Corte d’Assise.
And, even after the innocence of Amanda and Raffaele has been demonstrated by judges Hellmann and Zanetti, it’s not over: instead of apologizing for the disaster created, THEY CONTINUE EVEN TO THE SUPREME COURT! IN ANY CASE THE ITALIAN PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR IT.
TRIALS FOR EVERYBODY!
Mignini and Comodi pushed hard EVEN FOR THE SIDE TRIALS! (an offence to the judicial system and the Italian people that is perhaps even more serious): another trial against Amanda, because she defended herself at her trial!… another trial against Amanda’s parents… another trial against Raffaele’s family… another trial… Useless trials, liabilities in the millions.
Strange “evidence” of guilt that continued to appear from nothing (always rigourously consisting of pieces of paper in which they had written something).
Evidence that would discharge them, on the other hand, would disappear.
APPEARANCES, DISAPPEARANCES, STRANGE TRANSFORMATIONS, ALWAYS, DULY, TO THE DISADVANTAGE OF THE ACCUSED
The “good-bye” SMS to Patrick became the opposite: an SMS making an appointment! (to go and kill Meredith, obviously. Of the sort: “Yes, I’ll stop a moment making love with my boyfriend, I’ll come over, I’ll kill her and return”). The second part of the SMS (“good evening”), that proved that it was a good-bye: WOULD DISAPPEAR. It would be found only by the defense, when it gained access to the court documents. The SMS of Patrick and Amanda, that proved that there was no appointment, from both mobile phones: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
[Text inside the picture:]
At 20:35 on 1 November an outgoing SMS was found from the user 3484673590 of KNOX towards that of 3387195723 of the co-defendant PATRIC to whom it was written “See you later” which confirms that in the following hours Knox met up together with DIYA at the apartment where the victim was.
[Caption:]
Signed: Mignini and 36 police officers!
Patrick had written to Amanda: “There are no customers tonight, don’t come”
Amanda had responded: “Of course! See you later, [have a] good evening” (that, therefore, meant “ok, I won’t come”).
Oddly the message sent by Patrick WOULD DISAPPEAR from both his telephone and from Amanda’s. And the first and second parts of the reply (“Of course!” and “[Have a] Good evening”), were not mentioned by Mignini to the GIP. Otherwise it would all have ended already on the 8th November 2007 and the Italian people would have saved tens of millions of Euros.
[End of the caption]
The call to 112 by Amanda and Raffaele which led to the discovery of the crime (therefore they couldn’t have been involved) WOULD BECOME: “a call after the arrival of the police” (a classic).
The shoe print of Rudi WOULD BECOME: “Raffaele’s”. And, from the floor: WOULD DISAPPEAR. (Luckily Rudy then confessed that it was his).
On a knife, which Raffaele and Amanda used, after the crime, to cut bread (!), THAT HAD NO POSSIBILITY OF BEING THE MURDER WEAPON, WOULD APPEAR, according to a piece of paper that they produced, “the DNA of Meredith” , which is impossible.
A piece of bra, immediately found at the scene of the crime: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
After 46 days, when all the evidence against Amanda and Raffaele had collapsed or was about to collapse: IT WOULD REAPPEAR. AND ON IT THE “RIGHT” DNA.
The window broken by the murderer to enter WOULD BECOME: “A staging arranged by Amanda and Raffaele”.
The date of a post made by Raffaele on the Internet, in which he wrote of experiencing “strong emotions”, WOULD BECOME: from October 2006, to October 2007. From the date reported, indeed, the year: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
The recordings of the questioning on the night of 5/6 November, from which the famous written statements were produced, NEVER RECOGNIZED BY AMANDA AND RAFFAELE: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
4 computers with evidence of Amanda and Raffaele’s innocence would be “BURNT”, their content: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
29 tapped telephone calls, that demonstrated the innocence of Amanda and Raffaele: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
They didn’t even hold back on the usual defamation of the accused in order to render believable the accusation: Amanda and Raffaele WOULD BECOME: “crazy and drugged”. The toxicology test, however, perhaps because it resulted negative: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
An “informant” would reveal that Raffaele cut girls with scissors in Puglia (a story, evidently, copied from that of Danilo Restivo [Murderer of Elisa Claps]. As no girl cut by Raffaele with scissors existed, and as no informant existed, the identity of the “informant”: WOULD DISAPPEAR.
NO RESPECT EVEN FOR THE DEAD
Not even any respect for Meredith: even her computer was burnt. For her family: NO COMPENSATION, NOT EVEN AN APOLOGY. Rather, even the destruction of the computers, as far as it was possible, Amanda and Raffaele would be blamed! (Just like the cancelation of the text messages was of course attributed to Amanda and Patrick).
No respect even for Raffaele’s mother, who died in 2005 due to a brain haemorrhage, WOULD BECOME: “DEATH BY SUICIDE”. (In an attempt to demonstrate that Raffaele was crazy).
With such class, just imagine if there was respect for the defendants:
Amanda WOULD BECOME even HIV positive, and the big (slightly false) news would be communicated to her while in her cell like a good night, leaving her in a state of distress for several days. Just think that after all that poor girl had to suffer, maybe people would criticize her as well!
Many of her letters, sent or received, WOULD DISAPPEAR, to end up… guess on whose desk.
A City in Terror
“Evidence” that would come from nothing, written statements that didn’t correspond to the truth, testimonies that didn’t respond to the truth. A continuous defamation, a continuous abuse of the law and of human rights.
The diaries, the letters, the most private would end up in the press.
Criticism forbidden, analysis forbidden. A city in the grips of terror. Persistent rancor, denunciations, retributions, vendettas, defamatory dossiers…
People that claim to have been beaten, insulted, framed. With there typically being retractions, like those that accuse the mafia but then are scared.
Amanda, under interrogation, “SCREAMED” ! (The policeman Giobbi says so, unperturbed). She accused: “I WAS BETRAYED BY THE POLICE, THEY HIT ME ON THE HEAD, THEY TERRORIZED ME, THEY INSULTED ME”. She didn’t retract her accusations. Outcome: accused of Calumny. (A new trial, yes, but in any case the Italian public will pay).
Patrick claimed: “THEY KICKED ME AND PUNCHED ME, THEY INSULTED ME, THEY HUMILIATED ME, THEY TERRORIZED ME”. Then he retracts everything! Outcome: nothing happened to him.
Critics that criticize? Perhaps “evidence” and “testimonies” will come out also against them! “Journalists” that don’t criticize? (And what type of journalists are they?) Nothing happens to them.
Raffaele: “IN THE POLICE STATION THEY MANIPULATED ME”. Yes, just a little: they even managed to make him sign that his girlfriend had gone out! (to go and murder Meredith, obviously…).
Monacchia, under questioning, “WAS CRYING”! “She didn’t want to testify by any means”. Indeed, there was no scream at 23:30 (as one would like to believe from her testimony).
Giuffreda: someone that was calmly minding his own business, with it never entering his head to testify in any way in the trial about Meredith. But they went and got him, because Mignini had “heard say” that he had seen Amanda, Raffaele, Meredith and Rudi together (only the knife was missing…). In fact none of it was true. For having been heard by Mignini, today he must respond to charges of Calumny, after the charge brought by Raffaele’s lawyer, Luca Maori.
They even started proceedings against a young man that allowed himself to give a photo to Amanda’s parents! (but yes, a good offense can always be found).
FLORENCE JUDGES HAD WARNED
But Nobody Listened to Them
How wonderful to have fun inventing crimes against people, how wonderful to provide some work to those tribunals, that have so little; how wonderful to fill up those prisons, so empty…. SO WHAT, IT’S PAID BY THE ITALIAN PEOPLE.
These and other atrocities after which the Tribunal of Florence had convicted the “Doctor” Giuliano Mignini and his policeman precisely for unduly investigating everybody, with the reasoning: “THEY FABRICATE EVIDENCE”; specifying that the penalty would be suspended because with him being a judge, he would understand, and would begin to “EXERCISE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS WITH CAUTION”!
INDEED, WE HAVE SEEN WITH WHICH CAUTION… WE HAVE SEEN THE GREAT RESPECT FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD… In Perugia, sadly, that sentence has not found a following, rather, they are following Mignini.
Latest news of Caution, Respect for the Public Good and for the Law
The bill has arrived (one of many)
For an animated sketch ordered by Mignini and Comodi, of absolutely no use, of maximum value 15,000 Euros, the tribunal has had to pay 182,784 Euros!
The two geniuses of law, then, had sent the bill to Amanda and Raffaele!
What’s to laugh at, why not? Which prisoner, having nothing and millions in debt to their lawyers, doesn’t have 182,000 Euros in their cell? And wouldn’t be happy to pay for a cartoon in which someone depicted him or her as a murderer?
What a shame that Amanda and Raffaele didn’t pay. They didn’t give a damn and, with all their patience, have been waiting for the law to set them free.
What? They didn’t pay? Where is, then, the power of Giuliano Mignini and Manuela Comodi?
Who do you think should pay the bill of 182,000 Euros spent for a video-game with which Mignini and Comodi had fun for all of 20 minutes?
Amanda and Raffaele? You Italians? OR WHO REQUESTED IT?
WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD PAY FOR ALL OF THIS DISASTER COSTING 50 MILLION EUROS? YOU ITALIANS? OR WHO SO FERVENTLY WANTED IT?
Ask the government!
Ask President Mario Monti on Twitter: @presMarioMonti.
Ask the Minister of Justice Paola Severino on Facebook: http://it-it.facebook.com/pages/Paola-Severino/311747732169536
Ask the Minister of Internal affairs Anna Maria Cancellieri by Email, caposegreteria.ministro@interno.it, caposegreteriatecnica@interno.it
Ask the Ambassador for the USA, now one of Monti’s ministers, Giulio Terzi: @GiulioTerzi
Ask to all components of the Upper Council of the Judiciary (CSM) by Email: protocollo.csm@giustiziacert.it.
Ask above all to the President of the CSM Michele Vietti on Facebook.
“PRESIDENT, MINISTER, WE HAVE TO PAY FOR A VIDEO REQUESTED BY GIULIANO MIGNINI AND MANUELA COMODI?
DO WE HAVE TO REIMBURSE AMANDA AND RAFFAELE? AND PATRICK LUMUMBA, AND BRIGITTA BULGARI, AND MARIO SPEZZI, AND THE NARDUCCI, AND THE CALAMANDREI, AND BRIZZI, AND THE STUDENTS, AND… AND… AND… WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS DISASTER COSTING 50 MILLION EUROS? OR IT SHOULD BE PAID FOR BY THOSE THAT WILLINGLY PROVOKED IT AND EVEN TODAY, INSTEAD OF APOLOGIZING, INSTEAD OF RESIGNING, CONTINUE WILLINGLY TO PROVOKE?
Ask, or if you prefer, pay and be quiet.
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