Giovanni Di Stefano

Giovanni Di Stefano (born July 1, 1955) is an Italian lawyer who practises occasionally in the United Kingdom. Based in Italy, he has made a reputation in the United Kingdom for acting in high-profile criminal cases in England and Wales. His work defending notorious clients has earned him the nickname "The Devil's Advocate"The sobriquet "The Devil's advocate" has been used by the European press to describe not only Giovanni Di Stefano but also Jacques Verges.] by the media in Europe.cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4394095.stm
publisher = BBC News| title = Jonathan King's 'best friend'| date= 2005-03-31| accessdate = 2007-05-24] cite web| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,818840,00.html| title = The devil's advocate| author = Esther Addley| publisher = The Guardian| date= 2002-10-25| accessdate =2007-05-24] He was a business associate of Serbian paramilitary leader Arkan (Željko Ražnatović) and was one of the defence team in the trial of Saddam Hussein. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/20/di.stefano/index.html?section=cnn_world Saddam's attorney: 'When is this man going to be charged?'] ] [citeweb |url=http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/14/ltm.02.html |title=CNN transcript: "Case Against Saddam; Behind the Verdict" |date=Aired 14 June 2005 |publisher=CNN ] He also has founded a political party, taken a considerable interest in football, and been a music producer.

Biography

Di Stefano was born in Petrella Tifernina near Campobasso in rural southern Italy. He moved to Irchester in Northamptonshire, England in 1961 at age six. He gained a fortune in his twenties by importing videotapes from Hong Kong.

Legal career

Di Stefano runs an international legal practice from offices in Rome, the Studio Legale Internazionale. He has been involved in a number of cases in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, [cite web | title = studiolegaleinternazionale: Cases list | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/cases.php4 | accessdate = 2007-12-29] and is well documented in the UK media for defending "some of the country's most notorious villains", and for his comment that he would "...defend Adolf Hitler or Satan." Notable clients that Giovanni Di Stefano has defended include Saddam Hussein, [Sources:
*citeweb |url=http://www.daylife.com/photo/06QffNr1PJ62C |quote=Giovanni di Stefano, a defence lawyer for Saddam Hussein, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. |author=AP Photo/Mohammad abu Ghosh |title=Photograph
*cite news | title = Gunmen kill Saddam lawyer | author = David Fickling and agencies | publisher = The Guardian | date = 2006-06-21 | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jun/21/iraq.davidfickling | quote = The London-based lawyer Giovanni di Stefano, who is on Saddam's defence team ,(...)
*cite web | title = Haider Aziz Al-sayer Jassim Ali Rasheed, et al., vs. Saddam Hussein, et al., Civil Action No. 04-1862 (EGS) | publisher = US District Court for the District of Columbia | date = 2006-12-18 | url = http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/news/ourNews/prelimMotion.doc | quote = (...) Defendant Saddam Hussein (...) to request the Court for an Order to permit Giovanni Di Stefano, Mr. Hussein’s lawyer, to have reasonable access to meet and confer with Mr. Hussein, in private, to advise him of the existence of this civil action and to take instructions from Mr. Hussein to present whatever objections he might raise to this pending civil action (...) Defendant Saddam Hussein through one of his lawyers, Giovanni Di Stefano] Tariq Aziz [ [http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.2118525661 Iraq: Ex-deputy PM is innocent, says defence lawyer] ] , Patrick Holland [cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7319216.stm | title = Five guilty of £10m kidnap plot | date = 2008-04-28 | work = BBC News | accessdate = 2008-07-29] Jeremy Bamber, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3567653.stm BBC article and video interview] for "HARDtalk" by David Jessel (first broadcast 2004-03-25)] Nicholas van Hoogstraten, [citeweb |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2843615.stm |publisher=BBC NEWS |title=Hoogstraten to fight conviction |author= |date=March 12, 2003 ] John Gilligan [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/print?id=365849&type=story&cc=5739 Shelbourne scraps talks with controversial Di Stefano] ] , Charles Bronson [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/visiting-time-charles-bronson-invites-us-into-his-cell-830534.html Visiting time: Charles Bronson invites us into his cell] ] , Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, whose death sentence Di Stefano is trying to overturn [ [http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/Charles-Bronson-faces-parole-hearing/article-290486-detail/article.html Charles Bronson faces parole hearing] ] , Gary Glitter, pop star [ [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/glitter-planning-move-here-as-soon-as-he-can-1466720.html Glitter planning move here 'as soon as he can'] ] and Ian Strachan, one of the defendants in the 2007 royal blackmail plot. [citeweb |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article3127413.ece |publisher=Independent UK |title=Checkered career of blackmail case 'devil's advocate' |author=Cathy Vervier |date=November 4, 2007 ] He has also represented Ronald Biggs, one of the Great Train Robbers, in his claims for release from prison, [citeweb |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7331261.stm |title=Biggs' bid for Christmas release |publisher=BBC News|author= |date=April 4, 2008 ] and, since at least April 2006, his law firm's website has hosted a petition to free him. [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/petition.php4|title=Internet Archive Wayback Machine|accessdate=2008-05-01]

In 2002 the Governor of HM Prison Belmarsh opposed Di Stefano's access to a client in prison, but the case of "R (Van Hoogstraten) v Governor of Belmarsh Prison"Regina (Van Hoogstraten) v Governor of Belmarsh Prison [2003] 1 WLR 264 ] in the High Court (23 September 2002) held that Di Stefano could not be denied the right to visit a client.#tag:ref|The right of a qualified European Union lawyer to practise in a country other than their country of origin is governed by the provisions of the (United Kingdom) European Communities (Services of Lawyers) Order 1978 (SI 1978/1910) (Amended 2004). [ [citeweb|author= |coauthors= |url=http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/conduct/guideonline/view=page.law?POLICYID=108
title="Annex 10A European Communities (Services of Lawyers) Order 1978"|publisher=Society's Regulation Authority |date=2007-07-01 |accessdate=2008-09-05] |group=nb On 17 March 2007 he wrote to Lord Goldsmith, at that time the Attorney General for England and Wales, asking for leave to prosecute Judge Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman (the judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein) under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957. [cite web
url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2007/04/prosecuting-saddams-trial-judge-in-uk.php
title=Prosecuting Saddam's trial judge in the UK
date=2007-04-27
accessdate=2008-04-20
publisher=JURIST] On January 14, 2008 he was reported as saying "Hurried justice is no justice" after a UK client who had won £1million on the National Lottery failed to attend court as a witness in an assault case. Di Stefano stated in court that she had booked a holiday to Spain before being summoned and had not been able to prepare her statement on her return, but the judge jailed her for 14 days anyway. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7187984.stm
title=Jailed lotto winner loses appeal
date=2008-01-14
accessdate=2008-04-20
publisher=BBC News]

On 15 January 2008 Di Stefano said that he knew of a sixth victim of Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley called Jennifer Tighe [cite web
url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article692218.ece
title = ‘Jennifer sixth Myra victim’
date= 2008-01-16
accessdate = 2008-01-17] who he said had disappeared after saying she was going to the cinema in Manchester on 30 December 1964. [cite web
url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=509166&in_page_id=1879
title = Did Myra Hindley murder 17 more children?
date= 2008-01-20
accessdate = 2008-01-20] He said he had a photo of her, and intended to speak to Brady to see if the killer would confess to this latest allegation. [cite web
url = http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article688720.ece
title = 'Sixth' Myra victim identified
date= 2008-01-15
accessdate = 2008-01-15] On 21 January 2008 the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) issued a statement saying that Jennifer Tighe was alive and that the suggestion that she was a victim was speculative and had no basis in fact. The spokesman added "Mr. Di Stefano has previously made claims regarding the Moors murders in the media but has not provided any detail to Greater Manchester Police." [ [http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/5497007523AD83EC802573D7005BDFA9.htm Moors murder 'victim' is 'alive] - Accessed January 26, 2008]

In a statement released on his website dated 21 January 2008, Di Stefano stated and cited email correspondence with the GMP and invited them to interview his client, who he said had always been "ready, willing and able" to assist with any enquiry. He also stated that no evidence had been supplied by the GMP other than a statement that Tighe was actually alive, and invited the GMP to provide proper evidence. [ [http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/blogHome.php4?blogId=1771&n.x=33&n.y=7 Studio Legale Internazionale] (Jan 21 entry)]

"The Scotsman" describes Di Stefano as a "colourful and often controversial lawyer"; [cite web | last = Wright | first = Angus | title = Marr brothers promise to write off Dundee debts | publisher = The Scotsman | date = 2003-12-04 | url = http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1331342003 | accessdate = 2007-12-29 ] "The Guardian" has called him "surely the only man in the world to claim the personal friendship of Saddam Hussein and the personal enmity of Delia Smith".

Personal legal history

Di Stefano reports being motivated by "a sense of injustice" after his 1986 conviction for fraud "was quashed".citeweb |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4394095.stm |title=Jonathan King's 'best friend'|publisher="BBC News" |date=March 31, 2005 |author=Tom Geoghegan] According to "The Sunday Times Magazine", in 1986, Di Stefano was convicted after a 78-day trial and was jailed for five years. citeweb |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article554239.ece |title=A law unto himself |author=Russell Miller|publisher= "Times Online (www.timesonline.co.uk)" |date=August 21, 2005 ] A BBC article reports that Di Stefano says the conviction was quashed on the second appeal and that "a sense of injustice remains, making each victory against the system a sweet revenge." The charges were for conspiracy to obtain property by deception and fraudulent trading. On 15 January 2004 "The Guardian" reported [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/jan/15/NHS.shipman2 |title=Police probe Shipman lawyer claim |accessdate=2008-04-20 |last=Cowan |first=Rosie |date=2004-01-15 |publisher=The Guardian] that Di Stefano's legal status was under investigation by the British police and the Law Society.cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/jan/21/shipman.health |title=Fraudster lawyer's claim to act for Shipman is bogus, says family's solicitor |accessdate=2008-04-20 |last=Cowan |first=Rosie |date=2004-01-21 |publisher=The Guardian] Following that investigation no action was taken against him.#tag:ref| "A spokesman for the City of London Police said: 'We are not prepared to confirm or deny whether we have an investigation at this stage.'"—"The Independent" (see paragraph 11) [citeweb|last=Bennetto |first=James |coauthors= |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/saddams-defender-accused-of-falsely-claiming-to-be-solicitor-492651.html
title=Saddam's defender accused of falsifying his legal credentials |publisher=The Independent |date=2005-05-31 |accessdate=2008-08-12 ] |group=nb

"The Scotsman" has published records which it says show that Di Stefano's first attempt to appeal the conviction was dismissed.cite web | last = Hannan | first = Martin | title = Giovanni Di Stefano: The Truth | publisher = The Scotsman | date = 2003-10-12 | url = http://news.scotsman.com/giovannidistefano/Giovanni-Di-Stefano-The-Truth.2469479.jp | accessdate = 2007-12-29 ]

In 1990, Giovanni Di Stefano travelled to New Zealand, where he made several multi-million bids on property. cite web | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10473104 | title = Familiar name in royal case | work= NZ Herald | date = 2007-10-31 | author = New Zealand Press Association | accessdate = 2008-07-24] [cite web | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=213&objectid=10328483 | title = 'Lawyer' under British scrutiny | author = Jason Bennetto | work = NZ Herald | date = 2005-06-01 | accessdate = 2008-07-24] cite web | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3533207 | work = NZ Herald | title = Soccer team next goal for fraudster | author = Scott MacLeod | date = 2003-11-08 | accessdate = 2008-07-24] cite news | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070425033511/http://au.news.yahoo.com/040408/2/ohdb.html | title = Fraudster claims to be defending Saddam | work = Yahoo! News Australia & NZ | author = Australian Associated Press | date = 2004-07-02 | accessdate = 2008-07-24] cite news | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3581432 | title = Will the real Giovanni Di Stefano please stand up? | work = NZ Herald | author = Chris Barton | date = 2004-07-31 | accessdate = 2008-07-24] The authorities discovered that he had not disclosed a conviction in England in 1986, and declared him a prohibited inmigrant. cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/08/1089000295725.html | title = Marsden's invitation to Baghdad | author = Kate McClymont | work = Sydney Morning Herald | date = 2004-07-09 | accessdate = 2008-07-24]

Around 1992, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service deported him from the United States due to a fraud conviction on the UK on 1986. Months later he applied for a noninmigrant visa for re-entry, and was told that he needed a waiver of inadmissibility to be eligible for a visa. The waiver application was denied by the INS, causing the visa to be denied. On 1993 he appealed to a district court, which ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to review the denial of a waiver application. In 1995, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court, ruling that Di Stefano did not have standing to challenge the waiver denial under the Immigration and Nationality Act cite court |vol = 53 |reporter = F.3d |opinion = 338 |court = 9th Cir. |date = 1995 |url=http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/53/53.F3d.338.94-55822.html] though Di Stefano has been able to re-enter the US since then.Fact|date=August 2008dubious

Other interests

Football

In association with Arkan he purchased control of the Serbian second division football club FK Obilić;cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee/3122537.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
title = Di Stefano on board at Dens] within two seasons the club had won a place in the UEFA Champions League. Di Stefano announced his intention to purchase Dundee F.C. in 1999, however his bid failed due to adverse publicity. In January 2001, Di Stefano announced his intention to purchase a stake in Norwich City F.C. from its former vice-chairman, however the deal failed to materialise. [cite web
title = Canaries sing for stakeholder power
url = http://www.supporters-direct.org/docs/issue7.pdf
publisher = Department of Culture, Media and Sport
date = June 2002
accessdate = 2007-11-08] In 2002, Di Stefano entered into talks to purchase a 60% stake in Northampton Town F.C., [cite web
url = http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/coca_cola/article189891.ece
title = Arkan's lawyer has ambitions to take over Northampton
publisher = The Independent
date = 2002-05-22
accessdate = 2007-11-05] however Di Stefano's valuation of the club changed following an EGM, and the deal fell through. [cite web
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/news/2002/08/27/cobblers_deal.shtml
title = Cobblers Deal Off
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2002-08-27
accessdate = 2007-11-05] Di Stefano approached the Dundee board again in 2003, and was appointed as a director on 7 August 2003. Initially the club attracted big-name players such as Craig Burley and Fabrizio Ravanelli, but the club quickly ran into financial difficulties, 15 senior players were released from their contracts, [cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee/3419865.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
title = Di Stefano steps down
date = 2004-01-22
accessdate = 2007-11-05] and Di Stefano resigned from the club on 22 January 2004. [cite web
publisher = The Courier
title = Di Stefano quits but still has eyes for Dundee FC
url = http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2004/01/23/newsstory5554723t0.asp
date = 2004-01-23
accessdate = 2008-04-20
last = Huband
first = Graham] In April 2005, he proclaimed an interest in investing approximately €1m in Irish football club Shelbourne F.C., [cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/4927002.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
title = Di Stefano requests Shels talks
date= 2006-04-20
accessdate = 2007-05-24] but the club rejected his interest, citing his decision to let his intentions be known to the media first as the reason. [cite web
url = http://www.shelbournefc.ie/news.php?id=331
publisher = Shelbourne Football Club
title = Statement regarding Di Stefano's interest in investing in the club] In October 2007, Di Stefano announced through his website his renewed interest in taking control of Norwich City F.C. [ cite web
title = Saddam's lawyer wants to help Canaries
url = http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED24%20Oct%202007%2010%3A47%3A18%3A763
date = 2007-10-24
accessdate = 2007-11-08]

Music producer

In 2007, he produced and launched "Seriously Single", an album by Italian singer JustCarmen that included "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a track written by Jonathan King, who gave permission for its use. Stefano's idea was to put a relatively unknown singer into the studio with recordings of big stars from the past. Featured artists included The Bachelors, Elvis Presley and Al Martino. [The Independent May 14, 2007, p16 Devi's Advocate takes his case to the charts] [The Daily Star May 15, 2007] [News of the World p.37 May 20, 2007]

Founder of political party

In April 2004, Di Stefano founded a political party, [cite web
url = http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=954&id=233722005
title = Saddam's lawyer eyes Dundee poll
publisher = The Scotsman
date = 2005-03-03
accessdate = 2008-04-20
publisher = The Scotsman
last = MacDonell
first = Hamish] the Radical Party of Great Britain, by registering it at the Electoral Commission with himself as its leader, [cite web
title = The Electoral Commission Register of political parties
url = http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regpoliticalparties.cfm?frmGB=1&frmPartyID=477&frmType=partydetail] but the party fielded no candidates in the 2005 general election, the 2008 London Assembly election, or the 2008 local elections.

In a November 2007 interview with Dublin's "Hot Press" magazine, Di Stefano is reported as expressing an interest in running in the Republic of Ireland in the European Union elections with an anti-immigration manifesto."I'm going to run in Ireland in the European elections. You better believe it. I'm perfectly entitled in the European election to run in any EU state. You don't need to be resident or Irish. I will take my seat in Ireland because a lot of people will follow me. We are not a right-wing party. We may be radical in name but not in nature. One of the things we'll have to deal with, as a matter of urgency, is immigration. That is the key thing because otherwise you are going to dilute Irish blood to such an extent that you'll almost wish that Cromwell hadn't got ill!" -- [http://www.hotpress.com/archive/4270757.html Paid access] . A free PDF version of the article is [http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/news/20071128HotPressDiStefano.pdf hosted at Di Stefano's website] .]

Complaint against Wikipedia

On 2 July 2008, Irish magazine "Hot Press" reported Di Stefano's claim that he had lodged a formal complaint to the Rome Public Prosecutor alleging defamation committed against him by representatives of the Wikimedia Foundation and several editors who had edited the article about him. cite news | url = http://www.hotpress.com/features/reports/4648190.html | title = Wikipedia Faces Legal Battle | author = Jason O'Toole | date = 2008-07-07 | accessdate = 2008-07-20 [http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/files/FLinesWikipedia3213.pdf Free-access copy at Di Stefano's law firm website] .] Di Stefano explained that, unlike other EU states, under Italian law defamation is a criminal offence.

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com/ Studio Legale Internazionale] - Di Stefano's law firm in Rome
* [http://www.theradicalparty.co.uk/ The Radical Party]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/devilsadvokat YouTube videos]

Persondata
NAME= Stefano, Giovanni di
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Italian European lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH=1955-07-01
PLACE OF BIRTH=Pertrella Tifernina, Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=