Fascist Sympathizers Gather in Predappio, Italy, Amid Controversy Over ‘Roman Salute’
Around 1,000 people marched on Sunday in Predappio, in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region, where Italian fascist dictator Mussolini was born and is buried. The event was held to mark the anniversary of the March on Rome, on 28 October 1922, which gave rise to the fascist regime in Italy. Many of those present wore black, recalling Mussolini’s Blackshirts, and there were also some families with children in attendance.
The rally was organized by the great-granddaughters of Il Duce, Orsola and Vittoria Mussolini, who had appealed against any public displays of straight-armed fascist salutes. Instead, people were urged to place their hands on their hearts during the ceremony when participants shout “Present!”, the traditional response to the commemoration of “fallen comrades”, a rallying cry associated with the Italian far-right. The appeal by the Mussolini family to avoid violating Italy’s “apology of fascism” laws came in light of court rulings and legal precedents.
Neo-Fascist Group Defies Appeal, Raises Roman Salute
However, members of the neo-fascist Forza Nuova political party openly ignored the appeal, encouraged by their leader Roberto Fiore, with dozens raising their right arms. Forza Nuova had attempted to hold a separate march to Mussolini’s crypt at the San Cassiano cemetery, but police banned the move, and the group ultimately decided to join the official procession. Responding to the tense situation, Orsola Mussolini told reporters that the event was “complicated by the presence of a political force I won’t even name, but it created unfavourable conditions just to gain visibility, while we are gathered here for a moment of prayer.”
In April 2024, Italy’s top court said that a fascist salute may be a crime even if performed during a commemorative event, clarifying an ambiguous ruling earlier that year. The cassation court clarified that a number of factors must be considered when evaluating whether the stiff-armed salute constitutes a crime, and that making the so-called saluto romano during a commemoration does not automatically “neutralise” the offence. These factors include the setting and its “symbolic value” and the degree to which the location it is linked – or not – to the fascist era, the number of participants, the “insistent repetition” of the gesture, and the “danger of emulation”.
Acca Larentia Event and the Law
In January this year, Rome police launched an investigation after hundreds of men performed the fascist salute during an annual commemorative event in the Italian capital. The Acca Larentia event is held every year to commemorate the 1978 killing of three members of the youth wing of the neo-fascist Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), a precursor to the right-wing Fratelli d’Italia party led today by Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who has commemorated the killings in the past. Earlier this month, a preliminary court hearing was scheduled for 9 December for 31 people, all members of the extreme-right CasaPound group, who performed the Roman salute at last year’s Acca Larentia event, with prosecutors alleging violation of the Mancino and Scelba laws.
Read more about the event and the controversy surrounding the ‘Roman salute’ Here