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Piero Ricca, is an Italian citizen owning a blog in which he speaks about politics and justice. A sort of Italian Michael Moore, I would say.

Yesterday, the blog of my friend Piero Ricca has been censored. Blocked actually, as Italian police has changed passwords, blocked posts and comments on that site, deleted articles.

You can see automated translation of the deleted articles, from google cache: Emilio Fede; Emilio Fede: the spit. Original italian version here: Emilio Fede, Emilio Fede: lo sputo

What happened? Why this blog has been banned? I explain it briefly.

Some days ago, Piero met Emilio Fede, a “journalist”, director of TG4, of Rete4 (Berlusconi’s TV network) and asked him about how it is possible that Rete4 continues to transmit using abusive TV frequencies: there’s a sentence of the Constitutional Court that was assigning those frequencies to “Europa 7″, but Rete4 continues to transmit despite the law.
In response to that question Piero received insults and a spittle, and when Piero answered to the journalist, he got intimidating menaces and also law actions menaces.
There’s a video on youtube of the episode: Piero Ricca vs Emilio Fede.

Yesterday, his blog has been preventatively seized.

So a pirate TV owned by the ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, can continue to work for years, but if a citizen asks for explanations gets banned from internet. Usual stuff for Italian Justice: strong with common citizen, weak with potents.

Here, the post from beppegrillo.it: V as in Emilio Fede.

Every blog in Italy is echoing the news.

The message from Piero Ricca in the comments of his last blog post:

I am Piero Ricca.

DEAR FRIENDS, I CANNOT UPDATE THE BLOG. It has been closed by an act of the Rome Prosecutors’ office, a “preventative removal” that I was notified of at 2:00pm today by two officers of the Finance Police of the “special unit against ICT frauds” who came from Rome. The action has happened as a result of an action for defamation presented by Emilio Fede against myself for the famous confrontation at the Press Circle. With the same measure they have deleted one of my posts relating to the Fede affair and the related comments. For technical reasons, they have not been able to remove the video from YouTube.
Naturally I will immediately ask for the reversal of the action. In the meantime I can just write these lines here. In a short while, I will send a communication to the sites of friends, and I’m asking you now to distribute it.
With Fede there’ll be an encounter in the tribunal, perhaps even in front of one of the magistrates who has been defamed and spied upon during the years of the government of his employer.
And we will continue to criticise him and those like him in public places, in new displays of dissent.
No one will manage to remove the freedom of expression from me and from the friends of Qui Milano Libera and of the blog: this is certain.
Thanks to all.”

Piero Ricca

Now Piero is evaluating to move his blog outside Italy, to avoid censor for the future. It seems that the website Qui Milano Libera will host Piero’s voice while his blog is under block.