Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica

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The Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica ( SISDE ; German (freely translated) Intelligence and Protection of the Constitution ) was a civilian Italian intelligence service that mainly operated inland until 2007 . It was subordinate to the Minister of the Interior and, through the Comitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e di Sicurezza (CESIS), to the Prime Minister. The SISDE corresponded roughly to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

In August 2007, the SISDE was replaced by the new domestic intelligence service Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna (AISI).

assignment

The SISDE had the task of "using intelligence and security services to defend the democratic state and its constitutional institutions against any form of subversion and against any attempt to damage or eliminate it". (Law 801 of October 24, 1977)

In addition to the clarification of political extremism from the left (including anarchism ) and right ( neo-fascism ), separatism and other anti- constitutional tendencies, the Italian legislature transferred important competences to the SISDE in the field of fighting organized crime (OK) ( mafia ) in the 1990s . In accordance with the principle of separating the police and the intelligence service , the SISDE was now also responsible for clearing up the OC, while fighting the police against them is also a matter for the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA).

The SISDE operated primarily domestically, but was not purely a domestic intelligence service. The two services SISDE and SISMI did not work according to the territorial principle, but according to the functional principle. This meant that the SISDE, for example, was also active abroad in the clarification of the (Italian) OK, while the SISMI z. B. at its assigned counterintelligence especially operated domestically.

organization

The German constitutional protection system with a federal office for the protection of the constitution and independent state offices for the protection of the constitution (LfV) is completely alien to Italy , but also to almost all other (also federal) states. The SISDE had offices all over Italy which were directly subordinate to it and which were an integral part of the organization.

The SISDE staff (around 1200 full-time employees) came almost exclusively from the ranks of the Polizia di Stato , the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza , as well as from other civil administrations. The staff there was selected as required and, with consent, entered the service. The new employees lost all police powers. External staff were only employed directly when there was a special need.

history

The SISDE was created by a law reforming the Italian intelligence services in 1977. Up to that point, the military services were

mainly active in Germany. They came under the Ministry of Defense and were mainly concerned with containing the political influence of the strong Communist Party of Italy (PCI) and the terror of the Red Brigades . In addition, there were secret service organizations in the Ministry of the Interior. Some operated in disregard of the principle of separation of police and intelligence services , which is officially also applicable in Italy today . This included the secret services

as well as the (sub) department for confidential affairs (Divisione Affari Riservati) of the Ministry of the Interior . These bodies also dealt primarily with the fight against left-wing terrorism. The reform of the intelligence services in 1977 was intended to put an end to the unchecked secret service activities of the Interior Ministry. In particular, the military intelligence service should also be relieved of any responsibility in the area of ​​combating extremism. The SISDE was thus created with the alleged intention of organizing the investigation of extremist and state-endangering activities in a proper civilian intelligence service and of definitely preventing military intelligence and secret police machinations. When it was founded, organizational units of the Ministry of the Interior were de facto transferred to the SISDE, but a separation was made between intelligence and police parts. The police areas ( state security and counter-terrorism) were assigned to the police ( Polizia di Stato ) under the name Ufficio Centrale per le Investigazioni Generali e le Operazioni Speciali ( UCIGOS ; German central office for general investigations and special operations ) (the branch offices have the abbreviation that is better known in Italy DIGOS ) incorporated. Both SISDE and SISMI consisted mainly of the staff of their predecessor organizations in the first years of their activity, which is why the spirit of the reform of 1977 could only slowly and gradually take hold.

ladder

  • Giulio Grassini (1977-1981)
  • Emanuele De Francesco (1981-1984)
  • Vincenzo Parisi (1984-1987)
  • Riccardo Malpica (1987-1991)
  • Alessandro Voci (1991-1992)
  • Angelo Finocchiaro (1992-1993)
  • Domenico Salazar (1993–1994)
  • Gaetano Marino (1994-1996)
  • Vittorio Stelo (1996-2001)
  • Mario Mori (2001-2006)
  • Franco Gabrielli (2006-2007)

The heads of the SISDE usually came from the civil administration ( prefects ) or from the three national police forces Polizia di Stato , Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza . In their hierarchical position, they are comparable to the German Ministerial Director or Lieutenant General (B9). The last head of service Franco Gabrielli (* 1960 ) was one of the youngest in the history of SISDE. He came from the Polizia di Stato, where he solved several spectacular murder cases (including Marco Biagi ). Most recently he was head of a department for counter-terrorism .

Web links

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 41.5 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 38.7"  E