Youssef Siher, the creator of the social channels of the "October 17 Movement", was questioned in the San Vittore prison in Milan by investigating judge Tiziana Landoni.
"He didn't do anything. There was no conduct inciting the violence, there is no terrorism, there is no crime and in the hearing we contested the charges from a legal point of view", explained Siher's lawyers after the hearing in prison. Lawyers Benedetto Ciccarone and Yasmina Abu Sharar asked the judge to set the researcher free.
The 30-year-old was arrested on 24 October for incitement to commit crimes aggravated by the aim of terrorism and organized violence in public demonstrations, because he was considered the administrator of the social channels of the "17 October Movement", which he created immediately after the urban guerrilla in the center of Milan.
The investigating judge Tiziana Landoni, after the hearing to listen to the young man, defended by the lawyer Yasmina Abu Sharar and linked to both the ProPal groups and the Milanese antagonism, will have to decide on the request for validation of the arrest and precautionary custody in prison advanced by the prosecutor Marcello Viola and the prosecutor Francesca Crupi, present at the validation hearing. Prosecutors who contested both the risk of escape and the risk of repeating the crime as precautionary requirements. The judge's decision must arrive by tomorrow.
For the prosecutor's office, Siher gave "proof of knowing the IT tools suitable for developing his revolutionary strategy, also through the drafting of press releases suitable for concentrating thousands of people ready for anything in the streets".
And his messages on Instagram and on the Telegram group, with over 11 thousand people, would have been "a declaration of continuous 'war' (...) deliberately aimed, and certainly suitable, to instill deep fear in the population and to destabilize the ordinary course of civil life".
A "subversive" project, of "revolution against the current government" and of support "for the revolt", which, according to the prosecutors, he could continue to carry out while also taking advantage of "his high cultural background and his relational contacts". Hence the request for prison, also because otherwise, thanks to his "relational network", he could flee "abroad".
The direction of a minor on social media: 'Balaclava only at the time of the raid'
"Don't put on your balaclavas right away, otherwise they'll stop us first." This was the first rule of the 'conduct manual' released on social media to avoid being identified by the police and ruining plans during the attacks in the historic center of Milan on 17 and 18 October. The person giving detailed instructions on what to wear, how to dress and how to move through the streets of Milan was a minor resident in the province of Monza, identified by the Digos of the Brianza Police Headquarters as part of the investigations following the riots.
On the afternoon of October 22, the police showed up at his house to execute a search order issued by the Milan Juvenile Prosecutor's Office. In his room the officers found the balaclava indicated in the chats and items of clothing that had apparently been looted from a shop.
The chats: 'Let's take one, beat him and take the weapon away from him'
Intentions to attack officers to steal their service weapons, fires at public buildings and explicit indications on how to arm themselves to take to the streets on 17 and 18 October in Milan. This is the picture that emerged from the analysis of the smartphone of the minor from Monza searched on 22 October by the Brianza Digos, who had traced back to him by intercepting his instructions online on how to avoid identification during the Milanese riots. It was from his device, as emerged in recent days, that investigators discovered a WhatsApp group made up of over 230 participants, in which new violent actions were organized and planned on a regional scale in view of October 24th.
In the chats the 'conduct manual' did not only concern clothing to evade checks, but contained detailed instructions on how to move in a group and equip oneself for the fight: "go around with something like knives for safety", "bring clubs and sticks", up to indications on where to find smoke bombs and high-powered firecrackers.
Among the messages exchanged between the boys there are also explicit incitements to attack directly the police and the institutions: "we are all together against the police", "let's catch one of them, beat him and take the weapon away from him", up to the hypothesis of "setting fire to a government building". The conversations also included plans to damage service vehicles and exhortations to carry out actual looting of shops.
