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Twelve members of the neo-fascist group CasaPound have been sentenced to prison for their role in attempting to revive the Fascist Party, which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini.
This is the first time that the law banning the “reorganisation of the dissolved Fascist party” has been applied to CasaPound, a group which has long been associated with far-right extremism.
The case dates back to 2018, when CasaPound members violently clashed with protesters opposing Matteo Salvini, then the interior minister and leader of the anti-immigrant League party. On Wednesday, a court in Bari, southern Italy, convicted all defendants and sentenced them to 18 months in jail. Additionally, seven of the convicted individuals received 12-month sentences for assault related to the incident.
The ruling has prompted calls for the Italian government to take further action against the group. Elly Schlein, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, urged Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government to dissolve CasaPound and other neo-fascist organisations, citing the constitutional prohibition against the re-establishment of such groups.
“Now that there’s a ruling that establishes it, the government has no choice but to do what we’ve been asking of it for a long time,” Schlein said.
CasaPound, named after the American modernist poet Ezra Pound, has been a polarising presence in Italian politics. Despite securing no more than one per cent of the vote in the 2013 and 2018 parliamentary elections, the group has continued to advocate far-right ideologies. Members have been seen making the Fascist salute, an act condemned by current Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi as “contrary to our democratic culture.”
Although Piantedosi has denounced such actions, he has also said that banning neo-fascist organisations is legally complicated and can only be done under very specific circumstances.
Prime Minister Meloni, who leads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, has condemned Fascism and acknowledged Italy’s role in the Holocaust, but has not fully supported the dissolution of CasaPound.
This case marks a significant moment in Italy’s ongoing struggle to confront its fascist past and deal with the resurgence of far-right movements. With the court ruling now setting a precedent, many are calling for stronger measures to curb the influence of neo-fascist groups in the country.
