(see related)
(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 21 - The leaders of Italy's two biggest
opposition parties, Elly Schlein.of the Democratic Party and
ex-premier Giuseppe Conte of the 5-Star Movement (M5S),
expressed dismay and demanded a response from the government on
Sunday after a reporter for daily newspaper La Stampa, Andrea
Joly, was attacked by far-right militants overnight.
"I express my solidarity and closeness with Andrea Joly, a
journalist for La Stampa, who was attacked and beaten by
CasaPound militants in Turin last night, just for having filmed
them on his mobile phone while they were celebrating their
anniversary outside a club," Schlein said.
"But I also express great concern about the climate of impunity
that we continue to see in the face of such serious episodes:
what more must we wait for for neo-fascist organisations to be
disbanded, as the Constitution says?
"We ask Premier Giorgia Meloni and Interior Minister Matteo
Piantedosi to intervene immediately".
Conte described the attack on Joly as "squadrista".
"It shows, once again, the need to strengthen democratic
antibodies every day to fight hatred, intolerance and
neo-fascist violence," Conte continued via X.
"It is a serious and unacceptable episode, but it is not an
isolated case: the alarm bells about some anti-democratic drifts
in our country have already rung several times.
"The political world and healthy parties have the task of
intervening to put an end to these delirious regurgitations of
arrogance and violence.
"My solidarity and that of the M5S goes to Joly and the entire
editorial staff (of La Stampa)".
Premier Giorgia Meloni recently said she was ready to kick
anyone who wanted to turn the clock back to the past out of her
Brothers of Italy (FdI) party after news site Fanpage's
undercover exposé on alleged antisemitic, neo-fascist and
neo-Nazi sentiments in the youth section of the party.
The footage featured some members of National Youth (GN) hailing
Mussolini and chanting Duce and Sieg Heil as well as voicing
allegedly antisemitic views. (ANSA).