ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN Italy
In Italy, politicians spreading hate messages can be prosecuted: a) in application
of general legal provisions covering racially motivated slander, defamation or insults
or b) in application of Act No. 654 of 13 October 1975 (known as the “Reale Act”),
as amended by Act No. 205 of 25 June 1993 (known as “Mancino Act”) and Act No.
85 of 24 February 2006. 70
While having an appropriate criminal legislation is essential in this field, it needs
to be enforced. Furthermore, the penalties have to be effective, proportionate and
dissuasive. The majority of interlocutors interviewed for this research pointed out
that the current legislation is inadequately implemented and claims that the sanctions
applied pursuant to the current legislation are mild and insufficient. Unfortunately,
data on the number of convictions issued in application of the above-mentioned
legislation are not disaggregated by types of racist motivation or criminal offence.
This, together with the complicated legislative framework makes it impossible to
know how many people, including politicians, have been convicted for incitement
to hatred towards Muslims in 2015.
Nonetheless, some specific judgments are worth mentioning. In 2015, a controversial
judgment was pronounced by the Italian Court of Cassation, 71 which acquitted
a politician of the charge of incitement of hatred through dissemination of
hateful materials against migrants and Muslims while campaigning for the European
elections in 2013. Despite leaflets that stated: “No more money lenders – no more
foreigners”, depicting a Muslim wearing a suicide belt, the Court of Cassation judges
ruled that the defendant’s intention was not to stigmatise “all non-Italians, just those
who commit crimes” in Italy.
Whenever a conviction was issued, cases of non-compliance have also been registered.
For instance, a politician from the right-wing party Forza Italia was ordered
to pay 30,000 Euros to a Muslim Association (UCOII) for associating it with the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Afterwards, the politician announced
her unwillingness to pay the fine. 72
70. The “Mancino Act” amended the “Reale Act” to criminalise, among others, incitement to hate on grounds of
religion. According to it, those who “spread ideas based on racial superiority or racial or ethnic hatred, or to instigate
to commit or commit acts of discrimination for racial, ethnic, national or religious reasons” shall be punished. The
Mancino Law was modified by the Law No. 85/2006 that replaced the term “dissemination” by the term “promotion”
(propaganda) and “instigate” by “incite”, thus limiting the punishable. Moreover, in 2016, the maximum
penalty provided was reduced from three years’ to eighteen months’ imprisonment or a fine up to 6,000 Euros.
The scope of this law risks being further narrowed by the possible adoption of a draft currently discussed in the
Italian Parliament and aimed at enhancing the protection of freedom of expression, much to the detriment of the
right to be free from discrimination. See Report Lunaria Watchdog, 2015, 16, http://www.lunaria.org/wp-content/
uploads/2015/10/DossierWatchdog.pdf.
71. Cassation Court, Judgement No. 36906/2015.
72. “Santanchè condannata a risarcire gli islamici: “Pignoratemi lo stipendio, perché io non pagherò mai””, Libero
Quotidiano, 23 April 2015, http://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/personaggi/11781909/Santanche-condannata-a-risarcire-gli-islamici.html.
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