Under analysis by the Italian Supreme Court, a demonstration in Milan in 2016 commemorating the death of a fascist leader, killed by the far left in 1975 -, participants performed the fascist salute with the usual cries. ”. In practice, they had to decide whether the cries were “rituals evoking the typical gestures of the disbanded Fascist Party, known as the Roman salute” and repeated by hundreds of people in Rome this month. Offense. “Yes, but,” answered the judges.
“The Supreme Court's ruling establishes that the Roman salute is not a crime, as provided in Section 5 of the Selba Act, or unless there is a definite intent to incite racial and violence, and there is no definite danger of the reconstruction of the Fascist Party. , as established in Mancino Law”, explained to the Italian newspaper Domenico Di Tullio, the lawyer of two of the eight accused – convicted in the first instance.
Prior to this sentence, the court had already decided that the ritual had no “criminal relevance” because it did not consider it to be a “danger to the state” because it “assessed its symbolic weight attached to the non-democratic ideology” in order to consider that a crime had been committed. Remember the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.
The Schelba Law of 1952 criminalized support for fascism and reformed Benito Mussolini's party. hate speech
The United Chamber of the Supreme Court writes, “Special Collegium to Resolve Internal Conflicts of Interpretation”. Il Fatto QuotidianoResponding to a request for appeals, the court ordered a new trial for the top eight defendants, first convicted by relative — and now, whether they pose a threat to the state or revive the National Fascist Party, adding that “under certain conditions” the two crimes may occur simultaneously, “in accordance with the second thesis.” The court of first instance has to decide whether the salute was intended to be served.
Eight of the accused are members of Casabound, a former far-right party that has been turned into a movement (but whose members continue to vote and have alliances with other groups). Its members are a regular presence at annual gatherings and celebrations marked by fascism: last January 7, marking the death of three militants from the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement Party, brought together several hundred people in Rome. They were filmed as they delivered the greeting, shouting “now”: the images were unprecedented, but the video was shared by a journalist and went viral, with many politicians demanding that the participants be investigated.
“We were punished for inciting hatred because of Sergio Ramelli's celebration. It disgusted me and it insulted Sergio's memory. He became a victim of this crime, did not give up, he continued his actions and gave his life,” Marco Carucci, one of the eight Milan terrorists, said in a statement to the daily. Il Giornale. “Now they're going to judge us under the Schelba Act, for condoning fascism.”
“A Victory”
CasaPound considers the Supreme Court's ruling “a victory that finally puts an end to the series of senseless accusations and meritless controversies that have erupted since Sister Laurentia's commemoration.” “Of course we will continue to do the Roman salute,” Casabound spokesman Luca Marcella told the Anza news agency.
Akka Laurentia is the name of the street where the January demonstration takes place every year in front of the former MSI headquarters. The Brothers of Italy, the largest party in the coalition led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is the successor to the MSI and maintains the same iconic tricolor flame. Meloni, who participated in these types of celebrations in his youth, rejected the post-fascist label with which his party is usually described, saying that “nostalgia for fascism” had no place in the system, but he knew it. The votes of many Italians could be described as such and he never fired leaders for offering the Roman salute.
“What happened is unacceptable. Neo-fascist organizations must be dissolved as the constitution says,” Elly Schlein, head of the main center-left opposition Democratic Party, wrote online after the meeting in Via Acca Larentia. “Rome, January 7, 2024. It feels like 1924.” Several opposition parties called on the government to take steps to ban movements like CasaPound or Força Nova, but Meloni made no comment.
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