Her conviction sparked a campaign in her native Italy, supported mainly by leftist parties and movements, who protested what they saw as the disproportionate length of her sentence, which was perceived as politically motivated, particularly for the part regarding the sentence to 3 years for "criminal contempt", which they claimed infringed on the "right to remain silent" of the accused enshrined in all major European criminal codes. Notable from this respect is the famous Italian singer Francesco Guccini's song "Canzone per Silvia", expressing solidarity with the prisoner in view of freedom of thought and general condemnation of the prison system, addressed to the United States as a nation. Amongst those who also intervened in her favor were Noam Chomsky, Roberto Benigni, Dario Fo, Luis Sepulveda, Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union.