Silvio Berlusconi was reelected prime minister in April, gaining a clear majority in both houses of parliament. His government in July declared a national state of emergency in relation to undocumented migration. As a result, undocumented status in Italy is now a crime punishable by up to four years in prison as well as being an aggravating factor for other crimes, increasing associated prison sentences.
In a memorandum in July, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg criticized the rise of racist and xenophobic incidents in Italy as well as increased discrimination against Roma and Sinti in government policies.
Against a backdrop of vigilante incidents, including two attacks in which Roma camps were destroyed by petrol bombs in May, and public concern about several violent crimes allegedly perpetrated by Roma individuals, the government declared a state of emergency for "nomad communities" (code for Roma) in the Campania, Lazio, and Lombardy regions, giving local authorities special powers including to conduct censuses and to raid and dismantle Roma camps. In July a lawsuit was filed in Italy challenging the legality of these measures and the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Italy to stop fingerprinting Roma including children. The European Commission muted its criticism of the policy following assurances from the Italian government that it was not collecting ethnic data.
The trial of 26 US citizens and 7 Italian citizens for the abduction in Milan and rendition to Egypt of the Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar, resumed in March, amid allegations that the government had acted "disloyally" in pursuing a claim before the Constitutional Court that the Milan prosecutors' office violated state secrecy laws in the conduct of the investigation. In October the court agreed to hear arguments on the state secrets claims in a closed hearing scheduled for March 2009. Also in October the Court of Cassation confirmed the conviction of Rabei Osman for links to the March 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Despite the ruling in Saadi v. Italy, Italy expelled Essid Sami Ben Khemais to Tunisia in June, in breach of interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights requesting that Italy suspend the expulsion until the court had considered the case. This drew criticism from Commissioner Hammarberg. The Italian authorities justified the expulsion on the grounds that they had obtained diplomatic assurances from the Tunisian government guaranteeing that Ben Khemais would not be tortured and would receive a fair trial. At this writing, the case is pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
Migrants continue to die attempting to reach Italy by sea in unseaworthy boats. The trials of seven Tunisian fishermen for abetting illegal immigration after they rescued 44 migrants and brought them to safety on Lampedusa, an island off Sicily, were ongoing at this writing. There are fears that such prosecutions risk discouraging rescues at sea and exacerbate the dangers for migrants attempting the crossing.