The images of hundreds of nostalgic people performing the Roman salute in unison shouting “present”, on January 7 in front of the former headquarters of the post-fascist party Italian Social Movement (MSI), resonated strongly yesterday before the Italian Supreme Court. The Court of Cassation met to express itself on another similar case, that of eight far-right militants who gave the fascist salute during a commemoration in Milan in 2016, a hearing followed with special interest in the country given the proximity of the event in Rome. , for which the Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation against ten of the participants. It was important, because it could create a precedent.
What the Supreme Court decided yesterday was which of the two existing laws in the Italian legal system that prohibit and punish the apology of fascism should be applied to those nostalgic for Milan. The first was approved in 1952, when the memory of Benito Mussolini was still very vivid. It is known as the Scelba law, after the then Minister of the Interior, Mario Scelba, and sanctions individual or collective apology for fascism to avoid the danger of reorganizing the dissolved Fascist Party.
Then, in 1993, under the government of socialist Giuliano Amato, the second, the Mancino law, was approved, which goes further and includes penalties for inciting discrimination or violence due to “ideas based on racial and ethnic superiority or hatred.” . The Milan defendants were convicted by this 1993 law, after being acquitted in the first instance according to the Scelba law, and the Supreme Court had been called upon to decide which of the two norms was appropriate.
In the end, and after a specific section was met that allows precedents to be created – with which the decision could affect those investigated in Rome –, the Court decided that for those involved in the Milanese Roman greeting, the Scelba law should govern, that is That is to say, for it to be considered a crime, the Roman salute must be accompanied by circumstances that imply a danger of reorganization of the Fascist Party, and it will be the judge who establishes whether this exists. But it is difficult to prove and pursue, so the defendants could maintain that it was done with a commemorative function. The neo-fascist group CasaPound instantly exulted talking of “victory.”
However, the judges also spoke of analyzing case by case, adding that “under certain conditions” the crime provided for by the Mancino law can also be applied, which prohibits demonstrations by groups that incite discrimination or violence on racial grounds. or ethnic. That is to say, this Supreme Court ruling does not fully resolve a debate that has been going on for decades in the country. For now, the most likely thing is that on January 7th those nostalgic will return to the old headquarters of the MSI.
