Italy: demand to declare fascist movements illegal after night of chaos in Rome

Italy The need to outlaw neo-fascist movements was raised today, which at the moment are nourished by the malaise over the pandemic, after the chaos unleashed last night in Rome with the assault on a union and a hospital.

The first to launch the order was the general secretary of the largest union in the country, the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, whose national headquarters was attacked in the midst of violent demonstrations called, in theory, to protest against the obligation of the coronavirus health passport.

“All those formations that identify with fascism must be dissolved. It is time to say it clearly “, said the union leader before hundreds of people who gathered at the doors of the headquarters chanting the partisan hymn “Bella ciao”.

A NIGHT OF CHAOS IN ROME

Saturday’s day was hot due to the call for protests in several cities against the government’s measures to manage the health crisis. But the omens were fulfilled especially in Rome, which ended up in chaos.

About ten thousand protesters, including many militants of the neo-fascist movement Forza Nuova, they marched through the center of the capital, proffering insults towards Mario Draghi’s Government of national unity and also against the press.

The tension inevitably rose when they threw firecrackers and smoke bombs at the headquarters of the Executive, which unleashed the reaction of the riot police, with pressurized water hoses and charges to stop the brand.

During the tour they also broke into the union’s national headquarters CGIL, destroying its ground floor.

The clash resulted in 38 police officers injured, six hundred identified protesters and twelve detained, including the national leader of Forza Nuova, Giuliano Castellino, and the Roman official, Roberto Fiore, as well as another former member of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Nuclei (NAR) .

In addition, during the night about thirty protesters besieged the emergency service of the Umberto I hospital and injured four people: two nurses, one with a bottle on the head, and two security agents.

ILLEGALIZE NEOFASCIST MOVEMENTS?

These actions have aroused the indignation and condemnation of Italian politics, since, as many experts have pointed out, they are reminiscent of times gone by.

Italy attended the founding of Benito Mussolini’s Fascism a century ago, in 1919, a movement that took its first steps with the harassment of trade unionists and that, after coming to power in 1922, led the country to the disaster of World War II.

Landini, supported by hundreds of coreligionists, assured that last night was “an attack on democracy” and “an offense to the Republican Constitution” that arose after the fall of the regime and that in fact prohibits in its final provisions the reorganization “under any form ”of the Fascist Party.

For that reason he called a national demonstration next Saturday under the slogan “Mai più Fascismo” (Never again fascism).

His proposal to outlaw these types of organizations, which now ride discontent over the pandemic, as they did then because of the unrest of the First World War, has been supported by several politicians on the Italian left.

The Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Andrea Orlando, considered that Landini’s proposal “has significant fundamental elements” because, in his opinion, they must “build instruments to defend the Republic and democracy in a more effective way.”

The deputy of the Democratic Party (PD), Emanuele Fiano, often the target of attacks for his Jewish ancestry, advanced that on Monday he will present an urgent motion in the Chamber of Deputies to call for the dissolution of the fascist movements.

“FASCISM IS NOT AN OPINION, BUT A CRIME”

The same demand came from the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI) which, like many other politicians, paraphrased former President Sandro Pertini, emblem of anti-fascism: “Fascism is not an opinion, but a crime.”

Solidarity came from all fronts: the leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, called for swift legal action, and the conservative Silvio Berlusconi telephoned Landini to convey his solidarity.

The condemnation also came from the extreme right, which nevertheless made clear its understanding with those who demonstrated peacefully against the health passport.

The head of the League, Matteo Salvini, a partner like those mentioned in Draghi’s coalition government, criticized the attack but supported “the workers who peacefully defend their rights and freedom,” since he disagrees with the obligation of the certificate. .

While Giorgia Meloni, president of the far-right Brothers of Italy, the only opposition to the government, called “criminals” those who sowed chaos in Rome.

“Solidarity also to the thousands of protesters to legitimately protest against the government’s measures and of whom no one will speak because of criminals who use every pretext to exercise serious and unacceptable violence,” he concluded.

__________________________________