OPERATION SCRIPTA SCELERA: ABSOLUTION OF THE ANARCHISTS ACCUSED IN THE TRIAL OF MASSA FOR THE PUBLICATION OF ‘BEZMOTIVNY’. AN 8 MONTH SENTENCE FOR OFFENSE TO THE HONOUR OR PRESTIGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC (ITALY)
On April 8th, 2025, the sentence was pronounced in the ongoing trial in Massa against four anarchist comrades indicted for the publication of the internationalist anarchist fortnightly ‘Bezmotivny’ (repressive operation on August 8th, 2023). The defendants – who were involved in the operation together with six other comrades for whom the proceedings remained at the investigation stage – were charged with incitement to commit crimes and apologia of crimes and offences of terrorism (art. 414 of penal code, paragraphs 1, 3 and 4) with the aggravating circumstance of the purpose of terrorism (art. 270 bis 1, penal code), for the publication of the about sixty issues of ‘Bezmotivny’, and of offence to the honour or prestige of the president of the republic (art. 278, penal code), concerning a specific article (‘Soffiare sul fuoco’, published in ‘Bezmotivny’, year I, issue 17, October 25th, 2021).
All the defendants were acquitted of the charge of multiple aggravated incitement to commit crimes ‘because the fact does not exist’, whereas Luigi was sentenced to eight months, without the application of recidivism, for offending the honour or prestige of the president of the republic (the other three defendants were also acquitted of this charge ‘for not having committed the fact’). The request for compensation by the State attorney’s office was also denied.
At the end of the indictment held at the previous hearing on April 1st, public prosecutor Manotti of the DDAA (‘Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism District Directorate’) of Genoa had requested 7 years’ imprisonment for Gino, 6 years for Luigi (with the revocation of the suspended sentence for a previous conviction imposed on him by the court of Ravenna) and 5 years and 6 months each for Gaia and Paolo, while the State attorney for the presidency of the council of ministers had requested compensation of half a million euro.