Emulate the fascist salute or Roman, with his arm raised, will not be considered a crime in Italy if it does not exist the concrete danger of a true intention to revive fascism, as reported by the United Sections of the Court of Cassation (equivalent to the Supreme Court, in Spain) this Thursday. The ruling, whose arguments will be known in the coming days, has been celebrated by formations of extreme right and by Ignazio La Russapresident of the Senate and member of Brothers of Italy, the post-fascist party Giorgia Meloni.
The incrimination of people who emulate the fascist salute, or maintain similar behaviors, has been on numerous occasions. object of controversy in Italy, a country where the apology for fascism is considered a crime. However, due to the many and various sentences on these behaviorsthe court of cassation had decided to request the intervention of the United Sections, charged among other things with unify the pronouncements from different courts when there is confusion.
The result of this has been a decision that “does not close completely the questiongiven that although it is indicated that this gesture can only be prosecuted criminally if it is linked to the will to rebuild Benito Mussolini’s party, it is left in the hands of the judges to interpret “the circumstances of each situation,” says jurist Raffaelle Bifulco, professor at Luiss University in Rome. “In the absence of knowing the arguments (of the Cassation), the summary seems to be that it is a crime but that It will be very difficult to prove it”, he adds in statements to EL PERIÓDICO.
Far-right jubilation
So much so that, according to what has been known so far, the Italian judges have decided that the case on which they had to rule—a trial against eight far-right militants who had given the salute at a commemoration in Milan in 2016—will have to be debated again. The question is whether the decision will also affect those recently arrested for making the gesture on the occasion of a massive act in memory of three far-right youth in 1978, which has caused a wave of indignation in Italy.
This, for now, has been the interpretation of Casapound, a formation of extreme right that, as soon as the judicial decision was known, it issued a statement of joy. “This victory puts an end to the unworthy controversies that have been unleashed by the commemoration of Acca Larenzia that, instead of arousing indignation because after 40 years the murderers are still free, the left called for trials and condemnations for those who were commemorating,” said the group, without presence in the Italian Parliament.
Criticism of Russia
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Central figure of the debate has also been Ignazio La Russapresident of Senate and belonging to the most right wing of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy. After himself days ago arguing that giving the fascist salute is a crime, La Russa has considered that Cassation’s statement “speaks for itself.”
As if that were not enough, the discussion has also ended up becoming a pretext for Kremlin criticism and, more specifically, of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. “Take care of the greetings fascists of Rome”, Lavrov said this Thursday, criticizing Italy – along with Germany and Japan – for its supposedly lax attitude towards these phenomena.