San Francisco Frontiers - Italian PM slams 'shameful' release of alleged protest organiser

The man, 30-year-old Youssef Siher, was arrested on October 24 and accused by prosecutors of being behind the social media accounts of the anti-government "October 17 Movement".

That was a reference to protests by young people in Milan on October 17 and 18 that turned violent. Several shops in the city were vandalised and looted by protesters.

Siher had been charged by prosecutors with "incitement to commit offences with the aggravating circumstance of terrorism and organised violence during a demonstration".

But judge Tiziana Landoni on Wednesday dismissed the prosecutors' case against Siher, saying he had never instigated violence and ordered his immediate release, Italian media reported.

In a video on X, Meloni said: "I'll say it bluntly: I consider shameful the decision by the preliminary investigations judge in Milan not to validate the arrest."

She called the decision a "humiliation" for "all those who strive to protect decent people from the risk of seeing their cities and their businesses destroyed".

- A 'humiliation' -

Hard-right leader Meloni, who faces elections next year and is under pressure from far-right challengers National Future, frequently accuses the judiciary of having a liberal bias.

But a constitutional referendum organised by the government this year that would have reduced the autonomy of the judiciary failed to pass.

There were calls by the "October 17 Movement" for similar protests on October 24 but, following Siher's arrest, demonstrations that day were smaller and generally peaceful.

Contacted by AFP, Siher's lawyer declined to comment.

Questioned Wednesday evening after a cabinet meeting, Meloni said: "I do not consider what I said to be an attack, I see it as a defence, as a defence of the work I know, of all the servants of the state who have worked with enormous dedication to prevent what we saw on October 17 from happening again, and it has not happened again."

After the first demonstrations, and ahead of a general strike planned for Friday, the Italian government carried out numerous arrests of activists and deployed the army in central Milan.

The "October 17 Movement" page says it draws inspiration from the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the Occupy movement.

"The state pisses on us and the media make us believe it's raining, Meloni declares war on this country’s future, we declare war on this vile present," could still be read there on Wednesday.

According to the Milan public prosecutor’s office, "this public incitement to demonstrate violently and repeatedly carried a strongly symbolic message, capable of destabilising and of spreading fear among the population."

- Scapegoat -

But according to the judge's decision, circulated by the AGI news agency, "the person under investigation never refers to the use of violent actions nor to the adoption of other behaviors constituting criminal offenses".

After studying in Milan, Youssef Siher did a research internship in geopolitics and collaborated with left-wing newspapers such as Il Fatto Quotidiano, according to his LinkedIn page.

Several supporters of the activist, such as the Italian movement Young Palestinians, have accused the Italian government of trying to create a scapegoat in response to the ongoing protest movement.

The main centre-left parties have called for the Italian prime minister to address parliament on the issue of security.

"You had found the perfect culprit, the Osama bin Laden of Brescia ... And now you say it's the judges' fault?" Riccardo Ricciardi of the Five Star Movement declared on the parliamentary floor on Wednesday.

V.Mitchell--SFF