Berlusconi party puts up burglar killer candidate

Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party has put forward a man under investigation for culpable homicide to vie in Milan's council elections next year.

Published: 27 November 2015 16:00 CET

Berlusconi party puts up burglar killer candidate

A 65-year-old under investigation for culpable homicide has been put forward for local elections in Milan by Silvio Belusconi's Forza Italia party. Photo: Screengrab/La Repubblica

Francesco Sicignano, 65, shot and killed a 22-year-old Albanian intruder in his home in Vaprio D'Adda, near Milan, in October.

The case made headlines across Italy and became a political hobby horse for the political right.

Many parties, including Forza Italia, Brothers of Italy and the far-right Northern League have used the case to argue that Italian gun laws are too strict and prevent people from defending themselves.

Sicignano may be under investigation for the shooting but he has wasted no time in capitalizing on his new found status as a poster-boy for the right, with many political heavyweights coming out in support of him and the hashtag #Imwithfrancesco trending on social media.

He had been heavily courted by Brothers of Italy before he finally chose to launch his political career with Forza Italia, something he said was due to his admiration of party leader, Silvio Berlusconi.

“I think someone like him, who is 80 and still in politics, must really love their country and I love my country too,” he told La Repubblica.

But Sicignano admitted that his admiration for Italy's three-time prime minister was more than merely political, and in the process perhaps made the first gaffe of his political career.

“I think Berlusconi and I have a lot in common. For a start, we both like foxy women,” he said.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” — adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The “Report” programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.