Part of a document summoning me (Roberto Giurastante) before Court. The complainants are the people who betrayed Free Trieste in May 2014. To read the unofficial English translation, click HERE
TL3: FREE TRIESTE’S TRAITORS
Three years ago, November 2011: starts the legal battle for the rights of the people of the Free Territory of Trieste.
This legal battle started with the actions of a new organization: the Free Trieste Movement – FTM. It was only six people at the beginning. And I was one of them.
The six founders proved to have goals and ideas rather unlike from one another since the real beginning. Out of the six, I was the only one without a political background.
The others all came from Italian political parties (Lega Nord, Movimento 5 stelle, Forza Italia, the Italian Communist Party) and they wanted to create a pro-independence party rather open to autonomist ideas: basically a new version of the old Lista per Trieste.
Obviously, I didn’t share this idea. In my opinion, seeking the recognition of our citizenship of the independent Free Territory was incompatible with running in an election summoned in the name of Italy, in breach of Trieste’s own laws, to represent authorities that, all of them, illegally simulate Italian sovereignty over Trieste.
In the end, it was fate to chose our path.
The truth is, I addressed the EU as early as on July 11th, 2011, with the first document denying Italian sovereignty over the Free Territory of Trieste and its international Free Port.
I was the first time that a citizen denounced Italy’s violations against the Free Territory of Trieste, its citizens and against the whole international community. Furthermore, Also, my action brought to the EU’s attention the problem of environmental pollution in the Free Territory.
Being an environmentalist, I was investigating Trieste’s pollution since years. But at this point, even pollution had a new meaning: it was an international crime, committed by a State against another, in breach of international treaties in force.
In the end, this was the reason why the people willing to establish a new, pro-independence political party sought to involve me.
I had already done the job everyone else needed.
At least, so it seems. In truth, it was of little to no use establishing a political party to claim rights that would be never re-established without strong actions.
My European Complaint became the prototype of all future actions. This is how, four months later, we established Free Trieste.
All successive actions had a new base: the exception of the lack of jurisdiction. This was a consequence of that first EU complaint denying Italian sovereignty over the Free Territory. The exception was addressed to all judicial authorities serving in Trieste.
The first exception of jurisdiction was mine. I raised it before Court in December 2011. This exception became the core of any opposition lodged by Triestines before the local Italian authorities: the engine of a revolution of legality. After decades of silence, Trieste was awake.
Year 2012: Free Trieste starts growing, fast.
The lack of jurisdiction became the core of disputes against the simulation of Italian sovereignty over Trieste and its international Free Port.
Soon, citizens were lodging exceptions of jurisdiction in all legal proceedings, the judged had to reveal the source of their authority. Indeed, the jurisdiction vested upon them is not Italy’s, it’s the Free Territory’s.
People were raising exceptions of jurisdiction everywhere: in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings, and also in proceedings regarding taxation. And whenever a judge declared to exercise Italian jurisdiction, their act was challenged for going against the Italian Constitution and other laws that enforce and implement the 1947 Treaty of Peace.
The lack of jurisdiction became also a preventive measures: Italian authorities, as such, cannot act against the citizens of Trieste. Hundreds of people addressed the Court of Trieste seeking the re-establishment of a judiciary suitable to protect the citizens of the Free Territory.
January 22nd, 2013. I am before the European Parliament, explaining Question Trieste as part of a discussion about LNG terminals.
Public demonstrations multiplied: more and more people marched together.
For the first time, hundreds of citizens questioned the summoning of illegitimate Italian elections right at the polling stations.
In 2013, FTM had more than 2,000 members.
On September 15th, 2013, Free Trieste’s Independence Day Celebration attracts more than 8,000 people.
Obviously, the local corrupt system reacted. We are talking about the establishment: at words, it is super loyal to Italy, in deeds, it acts against Italian laws.
After September 15th, 2015, this local nationalistic “camorra” sought out all the weak points of the previously under-evaluated Movement.
On the other side, Free Trieste’s spontaneous growth offered already chances to infiltrate controllable people, to spy on the Movement and, if needed, to destroy it from the inside.
But Free Trieste’s “implosion” would take about one year. So, the local authorities followed their usual playbook: judicial persecution. Deputy Prosecutor Frezza opened numerous, pretentious investigations against Free Trieste. Such investigations intimidated dozens of the Movement’s supporters.
At this point, to secure ourselves from Italian attacks, we established a new organization. Based in London, we called it Triest. Triest should have acted as a NGO, promoting international legal actions.
The initial members were 5 of Free Trieste’s founders and lawyer Nicola Sponza. He was the Movement’s trusted lawyer, having joined Free Trieste in late 2013.
On Free Trieste’s behalf, “Triest NGO” commissioned to London-based law firm (20 Essex Street) with competences in international Law an expertise about the Free Territory. The money to pay for the document came from Free Trieste, which collected it as part of its international lawsuits campaign.
The expertise should have demonstrated that “Zone A” of the Free Territory preserves its legal status, as well as documenting the main violations of the inhabitant’s civil rights.
This is how all exception of jurisdictions lodged in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings held in Trieste became evidences of the crimes committed by Italian authorities against the people of the Free Territory.
One such evidences, probably the most important one, is judgment 530/2013 of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR FVG). I was the main appellant in this proceeding, seeking the annulment of the 2013 Regional election due to it being held in the Free Territory. 56 more citizens of Trieste joined the proceeding ad adiuvandum.
This adminsitrative judgment is infamous because not only it claims Italian sovereignty over both Trieste and its international Free Port of Trieste, but ordered me huge court fees and accused me of “subversion”. As if it were seditious claiming that the 1947 Treaty of Peace is valid, and authorities serving in Trieste must respect it.
Attacking from the inside: destroy Free Trieste!
To stop Free Trieste, which after the aforementioned adminsitrative judgment announced new international lawsuits (starting from one seeking the compensation for the Italian military service’s unlawful extension to the people of Trieste) the key was “defunding” the Movement.
And they indeed defunded the Movement. Besides membership fees, Free Trieste’s most important fund-rising event was the annual celebration held in summer.
The 2013 celebration was a memorable one (see photos here). More than 20,000 people attended the event. Yet, all incomes vanished. Under reliable esteems, it was at least EUR 80,000. And they all disappeared.
Soon, that money came back, but it wasn’t to support us. Indeed, the event’s organizers are the same people who prepared the “golpe“.
Free Trieste remained without economic means, exactly when it needed maximum support for its international lawsuits. This was the local nationalistic “camorra”‘s first big victory: our actions were slowing down.
The lack of money ignited the inner crisis. It became clear that someone was working against the Movement.
On January 18th, 2014, when Free Trieste held its first assembly and I became the President, things were already very tense.
Free Trieste was already split. On one side, stood those willing to give up to the nationalistic camorra’s pressing, running in the local elections. On the other side, stood the pro-law wing, those loyal to Free Trieste’s political program and faithful to the assembly’s own decision. Indeed, the assembly had voted against participating in Italian elections summoned within the Free Territory. Obviously, the first group wanted to force its own views getting rid of the second.
In the next four months, Free Trieste faced many internal struggles. The people who ultimately broke it into two, their heads, planned it all as a military operation, seizing control of the Movement’s own media (Facebook page, website, emails).
From one day to another, we lost contact with all of our supporters.
And so, after cutting us out, the dissidents unleashed all kinds of violent propagandas against us. Soon, the dissidents became even stronger thanks to professional disinformation masters. One of them was self-professed freemason Paolo Deganutti. Soon, he was the dissident’s ideologist.
The aggression began on the evening of Saturday, May 10th. From that date, we have no way to contact our 12,000 supporters on Facebook. All while the dissidents stole part of Free Trieste’s database.
All while we had to rebuild out communication network from scratch. Indeed, out network was in the dissident’s hands, which went as far as to exploiting our work, our documents, even pretending to be us.
We resisted the dissidents no matter what. Even when they physically attacked our office, attempting to occupy it.
After we warded off the aggression, the dissidents established their own Movement. They surreptitiously called is “Territorio Libero” (Free Territory) sometimes rendered as “Territorio Libero 3” (cubed Free Territory), or just “TL3”.
The new group was immediately accredited by the UNPO (a non-government, pro-Italian organization that claims to represent oppressed folks). UNPO’s secretary, the Italian Marino Busdachin, run to Trieste praising TL3 for getting rid «of the old, pro-independence struggle». Everything was back under full Italian control.
Or so it seems.
Organization “Triest” remained in TL3’s hands. With the organization, we lost also the expertise we had commissioner, paid, and contributed to with documents and analyses.
We wouldn’t discover until later that lawyer one of the British law firm’s lawyers, Guglielmo Verdirame, worked as counselor also for the Italian Government, advising it on international matters (including the Enrica Lexie case). Was it one more trap set by the Movement’s traitors?
The contact person of the British Law Firm was Arlon Stok, one of Free Trieste’s founders: the Italian operation’s “man in the shadow”.
Curious enough, it was him that UNPO chose to present “Question FTT” to the Forum on Minority Issues of the UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
And he did, in a way that favors Italy.
Arlon Stok is the one who planned and enforced the subtraction of Free Trieste’s social media (Facebook page, website). Yet, Italian judicial authorities have never investigated Arlon Stok.
This is a unique case among the Movement’s most active members, and despite his personal responsibilities. But it is not unusual for Italy’s useful allies. The fake supporters of independence’s man “in the shadow” lives in Slovenia… may that Country’s authority be behind him?
Free Trieste did not give up.
Despite a second attack from the inside, led by other members of our management board converted on the way to Rome. We believe in our rights of citizens of the Free Territory of Trieste. We are going to defend out ideal until the end, without compromises.
Free Trieste withstood month of defamation, which TL3 spread to please the local nationalistic camorra.
TL3’s main targets were me and journalist Paolo G. Parovel. We are Free Trieste’s “thinking heads” afte all, so TL3 must get rid of us. Possibly spreading lies and insults, no matter what.
TL3’s mud-slinging machine received wide support by local media.
Media that is always supporting the local nationalistic “camorra”. This is why TL3 received posistive reviews since day 1. Collaborationists always enjoy such privileges, in all regimes.
We discovered that our former comrades had recorder our conversations on a regular bases, only to use the recordings as evidence to report us to the judiciary.
Lawyer Nicola Sponza, Free Trieste’s trusted lawyer, the one the Movement’s members relied on, has recently done it to me. He had all of our court documentation. He had all of our analyses in view of international legal actions.
Yet, he chose TL3, and now serves as that organization’s Secretary and as Triest’s executive. In this political role, he leads the actions against Free Trieste. And, again, he does it exploiting the information he collected in the year he worked for our Movement.
On December 29th, 2014, I am under interrogation following Sponza’s complaint.
On January 7th, 2015, Mr. Parovel and I are to be heard by the Justice of preliminary Investigations due to another complaint. This time the plaintiff is TL3’s president, Vito Potenza, with seven of his supporters. They are: Alessandro Gombač (formerly Giombi), Adriano Ciacchi, Stefano Ferluga, Marco Pizzi, Andrej Rupel, Claudio Beorchia, and Roberto Umek. Indeed, Mr. Parovel and I are Italy’s “enemies” so TL3 must destroy us.
Vito Potenza has also bragged in public about denouncing us to the GICO. Which means, the Gruppo Criminalità Organizzata della Guardia di Finanza so an authority that fights organized criminality. Only, the GICO should investigate the via Roma 28 gang’s the illegal traffics.
Vito Potenza, Stefano Ferluga, Alessandro Gombač and Marco Pizzi went as far as seeking Paolo G. Parovel’s expulsion from the Journalist’s association (ordine dei giornalisti). They based this despicable action on the false accusation that Mr. Parovel works with Slovenia’s secret services.
Italian super-nationalists willing to subjugate (former) Zone B of the Free Territory never change.
This specific complaint against Mr. Parovel has already been dismissed as completely ungrounded, but it clearly shows how far TL3’s gang is willing to go to silence their opponents. Indeed, they are the same people who established an alarming “security group” that looks like a gang of fascists. Of course, the local Italian authorities seem totally fine with it.
Obviously, this off weird pro-independence gang with fascist tendencies and filled up with deviant freemasons supports the simulation of Italian sovereignty. Their lawyers never question the local judiciary’s jurisdiction titles. They only question their authority if it is them to be under trial. Furthermore, they approve of Italian judgments that deny the Free Territory’s very existence.
They go as far as selling the aforementioned infamous administrative decision as a recognition of Trieste’s Free Port.
Except the judgment claims Italian sovereignty over Trieste and over its international Port of Trieste. Maybe the real reason TL3 likes that judgment so much is that it charges Free Trieste, TL3’s opponents, with subversion.
And this gets us to TL3’s approach to Italian politicians. One that is rather telling. Last summer I criticized PD Senator Francesco Russo for his policies against Trieste’s Free Port – which consists in seeking the elimination of the whole Northern sector – TL3 stood for that Italian politician, against Free Trieste.
When, with a blitz worth a pirate, Senator Russo sneaked an amendment for the removal of Trieste’s Northern Free Port from State ownership in the Italian 2015 Financial Law, Vito Potenza’s TL3 invited the Senator, a fresh violator of the 1947 Treaty of Peace, to a debate. And he accepted.
Indeed, the fake pro-independence TL3 and the pirate-Senator represent the same corrupt power. Not surprising, considering, again, that TL3 had already prepared to welcome the PD by endorsing the aforementioned adminsitrative judgment No. 530/2013.
This story is similar to the Lista per Trieste’s “betrayal” in the 1980s.
Namely, selling off a popular local organization that stood for Trieste’s rights against Italy’s nationalistic interests. An awakening that ended back under Italian control.
As soon as the Lista per Trieste run in the Italian election, it lost all of its powers, drowning in the deep waters of corruption and incompetence.
Free Trieste, in the years of its battles so far, did often have to face such “inglorious” past, and seek to redeem itself from it.
At the local offices of the State’s Legal Service, works State lawyer Marco Meloni. In his youth, he was in the Lista per Trieste as the juvenile section’s political secretary.
Back in 2013, he tried to make a fool out of me before Court. I lodged an exception of jurisdiction, and he requested the Court to reject it disregarding the Free Territory of Trieste by labeling it as “Topolinia” (Mouseton). He claims the Free Territory “never existed”. Said by a former political secretary of the Lista per Trieste this is plain revolting.
From one political secretary to another: since the Lista Per Trieste does no longer exist, maybe TL3’s political secretary is in line as the next State Lawyer? Sure enough, but only if he gets rid of Free Trieste, the “inconvenient” Movement that seeks the re-establishment of Trieste’s rights without compromises.
Two years ago, in 2012, someone asked me what are the main obstacles to our goals. My answer was that, in truth, we have nothing to fear, because we stand with the law. We can only lose this stand for legality against ourselves.
Now, as 2014 ends, I can only confirm what I said before: the worse enemies of the cause for the Free Territory of Trieste are, in the end, the people of Trieste themselves.
Translated from blog “Environment and Legality” by Roberto Giurastante
Marco Meloni (center), current State Lawyer of Italy, in a photo dating back to 1980s, when he was the secretary of the juvenile division of the Lista per Trieste.
*Joining the UNPO is functional to raise the Question of Trieste internationally as convenient to Italy: claiming Zone B and, by doing so, making it exponentially harder obtaining the recognition of the temporary civil administration over Zone A (the present-day FTT). Indeed, centering the Triestine question on former Zone B, which is well under Slovenia’s and Croatia’s sovereignty, allows Italy to extend the dispute and use it to destabilize the whole Balkan area.