Report
Italian Justice Minister Nordio raises the specter of terrorism in comments on ‘No Meloni Day’
The Justice Minister spoke in Stresa, at a forum organized by the European Initiative Foundation. On the sidelines, he indulged in giving his views on anything and everything.
The role of Justice Minister requires at least a minimum of tact, to allow magistrates to do their work undisturbed. However, it looks like Justice Minister Carlo Nordio disagrees: on Saturday, speaking about the clashes between students and police that took place on Friday on the occasion of “No Meloni Day,” he allowed himself to go beyond a mere comment from the sidelines.
“I hope that the judiciary will intervene as quickly and as harshly as possible against these bandits who have injured the forces of law and order,” he said.
The opposition saw these words as an indication to magistrates on how they should act, to the point that AVS MP Angelo Bonelli asked: “With what powers can Minister Nordio issue orders to the judiciary?”
The Justice Minister spoke in Stresa, at a forum organized by the European Initiative Foundation. On the sidelines, he indulged in giving his views on anything and everything. Starting with the decision taken by the Constitutional Court striking down parts of the differentiated autonomy bill, which the minister said was “a balanced one. If you’re asking if it will prevent a referendum, I’m guessing that’s a yes.”
He then went on to talk about the judicial decisions striking down the detentions of migrants in Albania (“In our opinion, there is an absolute lack of justification” for the decisions) and ended by mentioning an alleged drop in public trust in magistrates (“Whether true or false, citizens have the view that some of these magistrates are not impartial, but politically motivated by their own prejudices”).
But it was on the topic of the Friday protests, particularly the clashes in Turin, that the minister used the harshest words, going so far as to raise the specter of the Years of Lead in the ‘70s: “I’m of a certain age, and I saw how terrorism was born, in none other than Turin,” he said. “This is how they started. First they incite to riot, then they attack policemen, then they make the ‘P38 gesture’ [a finger gun] in the streets, then they start shooting. So, the intervention has to be effective. There are no extenuating circumstances for those who attack law enforcement.”
These words inevitably brought strong reactions from the opposition forces. The first to respond was Angelo Bonelli: “Nordio managed to evoke the specter of terrorism when talking about the students demonstrating against cuts to school funding and against violence in Gaza, and the minister asked the judiciary to inflict severe punishments. I wonder, with what powers can Minister Nordio issue orders to the judiciary and invoke a risk of terrorism that doesn’t exist in our country?”
The AVS deputy then recalled that Nordio “is silent about the appalling words of (Undersecretary) Delmastro, who said that he takes pleasure in letting citizens know that they don’t let the detainees have any air behind the darkened windows of armored cars. His undersecretary is taking joy in knowing that there are those who are suffering violence or torture, but Minister Nordio has nothing to say about this.”
Nor did the statements made by Nordio on differentiated autonomy and the possibility that the Constitutional Court’s decision could avoid a referendum go unnoticed. The Lega’s Regional Affairs Minister Roberto Calderoli, the main author of the bill, fanned the flames even further, saying he wanted to respect “the guidelines that will come out of the ruling of the Constitutional Court. And I hope the opposition forces will shut up about it, and I hope they’ll shut up permanently.”
That got a strong reaction from the PD secretary: “Calderoli's statements are extremely serious and show little respect for democracy,” Elly Schlein said. “Instead of taking responsibility for having presented an unconstitutional bill to Parliament, the ‘Italy Splitter bill,’ and for ignoring any form of criticism from the start, including constructive criticism, from the opposition forces in Parliament and from authoritative constitutional law scholars, now, after the Constitutional Court struck it down, he still continues to double down on his arrogance and is now wishing that the opposition would shut up permanently. But I will make it clear once again to this government and all its ministers: the majority does not decide what the opposition can or should say.”
The reaction from the M5S was similarly cutting: “The more time passes, the more the main figures of this government show their true face: authoritarianism and intolerance towards any viewpoint different from their own,” said Senator Alessandra Maiorino. “Calderoli can be sure of one thing: as long as we have a voice, we will never be quiet and obedient.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/nordio-agita-lo-spettro-del-terrorismo on 2024-11-17