CNN —Italy’s high court has ruled that fascist salutes are legal at rallies unless they threaten public order or risk reviving the country’s outlawed fascist party.
Several members of Italy’s opposition parties and Jewish community leaders have criticized the ruling and plan to rally against it, according to local media reports.
The ruling comes nearly two weeks after a video showed more than 150 men performing the fascist salute – sometimes called the “Roman salute” – in central Rome to commemorate the January 7, 1978 killing of two members of a far-right youth group.
The high court ruling, handed down Thursday, is not related to the recent January 7 rally, which took place in front of the former headquarters of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) party, where Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni began her political career.
The new ruling will have to be applied in the lower court’s decision, which will then focus on whether there was a threat to public order or if the salute was aimed at bringing back Italy’s fascist party.
Persons:
–, ”, Giorgia Meloni, Domenico Di Tullio
Organizations:
CNN, Italian Social Movement, Italian
Locations:
Rome, Milan