23 acquitted for Roman greetings, 'the fascist gesture alone is not dangerous'
Quick Look
- The second section of the Milan Court of Appeal confirmed the acquittals for 23 far-right militants accused of fascist demonstration for having made Roman salutes in 2019 in memory of Sergio Ramelli, believing that the gesture, although symbolically attributable to fascism, was not concretely suitable to provoke support for the reorganization of the dissolved party.
- The decision is based on the absence of elements of proselytism or reorganization in the commemorations.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The story concerns the Roman salutes made by far-right militants in 2019 during a commemorative procession for Sergio Ramelli, a Youth Front militant killed in 1975 by a Vanguard Operaia commando. The Prosecutor's Office initially obtained acquittals at first instance in November 2024, then appealed. Five defendants who had chosen the abbreviated procedure were finally convicted in 2023 for the same facts.
It is not enough that "the gesture is symbolically attributable to the ideological baggage of fascism", but "in the context in which it is carried out" it must be "concretely suitable to provoke support and consensus in favor of the reorganization of the dissolved party". And in this "concrete" case we are talking about "commemorative" conduct aimed "exclusively at the deceased as a sign of homage", not "accompanied by elements of proselytism or reorganization" and which have no "criminal relevance".
Thus the second section of the Court of Appeal of Milan (judges Manzi-Fasano-Bernazzani) motivates the confirmation on 10 July of the acquittals "because the fact does not exist" of 23 far-right militants accused of fascist demonstration for having responded to the call of the "present" and having given Roman salutes at the procession which was held, as every year, on 29 April 2019 in memory of Sergio Ramelli, militant of the Youth Front killed by a Vanguard Operaia commando in '75. Defendants defended, among others, by lawyers Antonio Radaelli, Enrico Giarda and Luca Procaccini.
The Court explains that it was established that "these formulas and gestures were evocative of the usual rituals of the dissolved fascist party", but there was no evidence of the "concrete suitability of the demonstration to determine the danger of reorganisation".
The Prosecutor's Office had appealed after the first instance sentence of November 2024 with 23 acquittals, while five defendants who had chosen the shortened sentence were definitively sentenced for the same facts in 2023. In December 2025, then, in the wavering jurisprudence on the Roman salutes, which the United Section of the Supreme Court attempted to limit, confirmation of the convictions arrived in Milan.
Another section of the Court, the fourth, confirmed 13 to 4 months for Roman greetings on 29 April 2018, again in a procession for Ramelli. The judges accepted the line of deputy MP Olimpia Bossi, who explained that "these demonstrations with hundreds of people, lined up like paramilitary formations, are not merely commemorative, but represent a danger for the constitutional order".
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The issue of the Roman greetings will once again be brought before the Supreme Court for a definitive clarification on the distinction between commemoration and an act suitable for the reorganization of the fascist party.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What is the definitive jurisprudential orientation on the Roman greetings as a possible apology for fascism after the conflicting decisions of the different sections of the Court of Appeal of Milan?
- How will the Supreme Court interpret the distinction between pure commemoration and an act suitable for the reorganization of the dissolved fascist party?
- What consequences could this decision have on future commemorations of Sergio Ramelli and other similar events linked to the far right?
