The fever is rising in Italy. Several members of a small ultra-right group were arrested Sunday, October 10, after the violent clashes that followed a demonstration against the health pass, Saturday, in Rome. According to Italian media, twelve people were arrested, including Roberto Fiore, national secretary of Forza Nuova, and Giuliano Castellino, local leader of this movement.
On the evening of Saturday, several hundred people opposed the police in the center of the capital, devastating in particular the headquarters of the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL), the country’s main union. In front of his premises, the boss of CGIL, Maurizio Landini, demanded the dissolution of Forza Nuova and announced a major anti-fascist demonstration for October 16. “They can’t intimidate us, they don’t scare us”, he said.
During the night, around thirty people also stormed the emergency room of a Roman hospital, where one of the arrested demonstrators had been hospitalized, according to the agency. Ansa (in Italian). “The front door was forced open and stretchers torn off”, according to the regional Minister of Health. Two police officers were injured, as were two health professionals, including a nurse hit in the head by a bottle.
Forza Nuova is an ultra-right neo-fascist party created in 1997. Its program includes, among other things, the ban on abortion, the cessation of immigration or the repeal of laws punishing incitement to hatred for political, racial or religious reasons. In the various ballots to which he stood, he never reached 0.5% of the votes.
Many voices, mainly from the center and the left, have risen to demand the dissolution of this movement. “Enough with the violence of neo-fascist groups. We will present tomorrow (…) an urgent motion in Parliament calling for the government to dissolve Forza Nuova”, said a member of the presidency of the group of deputies of the Democratic Party. Several other elected officials and ministers of the government of Mario Draghi are on the same position.