Magistrate career reform is attempt to subjugate us - Gratteri

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 6 - Naples Chief Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri on Monday criticised the government's plan to reform the career systems of Italian magistrates and separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors so that it is no longer possible to switch from one role to the other.
    "I don't think it's urgent," Gratteri said when asked about the reform during a press conference in the prosecutor's office in Naples.
    "Only 0.2 % make the switch from one function to another and when it is granted, the magistrate has to change court of appeal.
    "I think it is an attempt to bring prosecutors under government control.
    'There is major psychological pressure on the prosecutors today.
    "I have broad shoulders and nerves of steel. I have been eating bread and poison for many years, but I imagine what it's like for the young magistrates grappling with these reforms".
    He also criticised removing the obligation to prosecute some felonies in certain circumstances.
    "'The criminal code must not be cut with an axe to prove to Europe that the number of crimes in Italy has fallen," Gratteri said.
    "I am clearly against it and I was already against it when prosecution was made optional with a previous reform". (ANSA).