How Post-Fascist Georgia Maloney Put Italy Under Her Belt – Liberation

Dressed in all white, Georgia Maloney made an official visit to the White House in early March for a lengthy meeting with US President Joe Biden. On leaving, the president of the Italian Council was not very bright. Aligned with Western support for Ukraine, a reliable NATO partner, Georgia Maloney is now pampered by an octogenarian Democrat who, under the gaze of cameras, does not hesitate to plant a paternal kiss on her head. Outside Italy, transalpine post-fascist leaders have thus become commonplace. By the time he came to power in October 2022, which had sparked fear and confusion in Western chancelleries, he had completely merged into the international political scene. His party’s Mussolini nostalgia, forgetting his past pro-Putin positions (“End Sanctions on Russia” She supported his attacks against the European Union (after the annexation of Crimea in 2014). Outside, Georgia Maloney is now selling a kind of national right and unfettered Italian-style conservatism.

But on the peninsula, security and stigmatization measures are increasing for certain groups of the population. And the allergy to counter power is obvious. In November 2022, after taking office, Georgia Maloney adopted a decree-law aimed at setting the tone for her actions under the sign of repression. After a rave party that brought a thousand young people together for Halloween in an abandoned factory near Modena, the government took radical measures: three to six years in prison and fines of 1,000 to 10,000 euros for the promoters. “Invasion of Land and Buildings” as well as authorization given to police to seize equipment and wiretap suspects in advance. “For the sole fact of participating in the assault, the sentence is reduced,” Whether it is unequivocally prescribed in the decree-law. At the end of 2023, the Secretary of State for Justice, Andrea Delmastro, rejoiced: “In one year, we destroyed the illegal rave parties.”

“Insane Measure”

“There are no big rave parties, Observes music journalist Damir Ivic. All major events such as Teknival no longer pass through Italy. It is difficult to know for sure whether this is the result of government legislation. Rave parties are still small, but they should be avoided.” In October, nearly a hundred youngsters, including 28 minors, were not so lucky. They were identified by the police and reported to court as having been found in a hangar in Monza. The move on rave parties seems almost fanciful but it would outline the government’s plan of action: As soon as a news item or social event stirs public opinion, the far-right sticks to power.

In the fall, it was after a bad news story that Georgia Maloney introduced a new series of punitive measures. In Caivano, a working-class suburb of Naples, two little girls were allegedly repeatedly abused by a group of teenagers. Quickly, the head of government produced a decree-law that specifically provided for heavy sanctions against parents whose children no longer attended the school system, namely the possible suspension of unemployment benefits, but also up to two years in prison for failed sponsors. “It’s a crazy measure that shows a desire to solve a social problem through a criminal response. Instead of forcing parental responsibility by providing them with support, we respond with punishment. Consider Mauro Palma, former national guarantor of people deprived of liberty, who points to other measures, such as the possibility of pre-trial detention of minors for drug trafficking, even in small amounts. A clear sign of the consequences of the “Decree of Action”, the Antigone Association for Rights and Guarantees in the Penal System condemns the sharp increase (+20%) in the number of young people placed in penitentiary institutes for minors who are already overcrowded.

The hand is just as heavy against activists of the Ultima Generation (UG) collective who do spectacular work to warn of climate catastrophe. Treaties “Eco-Vandals”, Workers who, for example, throw paint (“Washable” (clarify activists) monuments now risk fines of up to 60,000 euros and five years in prison. A threat that resulted in a conviction. “I was fined 20,000 euros for sticking posters on the window protecting Botticelli’s ‘Spring’ at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. says Alessandra Pipitone, 21, UG spokesperson. Dozens of activists who recently blocked a road in Civitavecchia were arrested “in the act” And spent three days in detention. Three of them have already been sentenced to six months in jail. “Intimidation measures are increasing,” Alessandra reassures Pipitone, whose parents receive regular visits from the police intelligence services, even though she no longer lives with them.

Abolition of the offense of abuse of power

“There is an increasingly systematic attack on initiatives and spaces for youth socialization, whether rave parties, climate demonstrations, student mobilizations.”, observes Paolo Notarnicola, national coordinator of the Rete degli Studenti Medi, a group of high school students who denounce the muscular intervention of the police. In late February in Pisa, anti-riot forces violently repressed a peaceful procession demonstrating in favor of Palestine. “It’s probably been a long time since the G8 in Genoa (in 2001, editor’s note) Nor have we seen such scenes, with unarmed youths, raising their hands, but who, in spite of everything, were severely beaten by the police.” Faced with such violence, the head of state, Sergio Mattarella, violated his presidential reservation to publicly condemn. “Sore fact”.

“We are seeing a very strong crackdown on crimes that are a cause of concern among the population but which can be defined as secondary, such as illegal immigration or rave parties, and conversely a reduction in terms of ‘other areas of illegality’, Prosecutor Eugenio Albamonte, former president of the National Association of Magistrates, with special reference to the abolition of the crime of abuse of power, which is to be approved by Parliament to the great dismay of anti-corruption organizations.

In small steps, the extreme right in power is advancing its pawns on its favorite themes. “Obviously, the government doesn’t touch abortion rights,” Gynecologist Silvana Agaton, president of the Laiga Association, explains the petition for the right to abortion. “But in reality, we often have to find solutions to bring women from Naples or even Sicily to Rome, for whom doctors are not available there.” Provided by law, bona fide objections by caregivers are in fact extremely widespread. In some regions, particularly in Mezzogiorno, women cannot find a facility to seek abortion. This phenomenon is not new, but the Minister of Family, Birth and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Rockella, has clearly emphasized her position. “Is abortion a freedom for women? Unfortunately yes and it’s not a pretty thing. She said. “More and more local authorities (run by the far right) finance pro-vita associations that go to hospitals to prevent women from having abortions or even organize funerals and cemeteries for fetuses”, Silvana condemns Agathon, who fears a takeover by the majority. At the end of 2022, the Vice President of the Senate, Maurizio Gaspari (Forza Italia) presented a bill for re-accreditation. “Legal Personality for Fetus”. “I fear one day this will pass,” Alerts the gynecologist.

“Climate Change”

“The small victories we have achieved in recent years call into question,” It also worries Manuela Belmonti, founder of Familia Arcobello, an organization for gay parents. “They had us in their sight, We are the enemy to be defeated. The government has not only passed the text of creating surrogacy “A Universal Crime” (with up to two years in prison and a million euro fine for offenders) but also asked mayors not to automatically transcribe the birth certificates of children from same-sex families. Recently, a Padua court rejected a request to erase the non-biological mother’s name from the civil registry. Hope for homosexual couples. “But the concern remains. To assert our rights, we must resort to justice. This means costs and uncertainty, Manuela Belmonti is upset. The atmosphere has changed. Homophobes raise their heads and feel authorized to mount verbal attacks. General Wenatchee symbolizes this change in climate. A former commander of a parachute regiment, a senior officer is the author of a homophobic and racist book Il Mondo al contrario It has sold more than 200,000 copies. Now a media figure, Matteo Salvini, represented by the League, considers him gay. “No Ordinary People” and stigmatizes LGBT+ couples’ desire for parenthood, arguing that it is as unnatural as cannibalism.

In public opinion, the idea that government action is above all advertising effects is very widespread. “We feel the difference”On the contrary, assures Andrea Costa, president of the Baobab Experience Association, which supports migrants in Rome, which emphasizes “The police investigation has become systematic. That job is more difficult because we are always on the edge of being accused of encouraging illegal immigration. With previous governments, things were not easy but the situation has worsened.

Always in favor of a strong executive, Georgia Meloni is preparing to vote in parliament on a constitutional amendment that would significantly strengthen the prime minister’s powers. from the begining “There is a tendency by those in power to see control institutions, be it the Constitutional Court, the Judiciary or the Court of Auditors, as obstacles”, Eugenio Albamonte believes. Earlier in the year, Giuliano Amato, former prime minister and president emeritus of the Constitutional Court, went further by predicting that Giorgia Maloney’s Italy might succumb to liberalism on the Hungarian or Polish model: “We think it’s unthinkable but it could happen.”