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Outrage over ‘Kyenge’ monkey Facebook post

A member of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party has sparked outrage after a photo of a black politician with the head of a monkey appeared on his Facebook profile, a suspected reference to Italy’s Integration Minister, Cecile Kyenge.

Published: 1 November 2013 17:03 CET
Outrage over 'Kyenge' monkey Facebook post
The post has now been removed. Screengrab: Facebook

The offensive post appeared on the public Facebook profile of Fabio Rainieri, a former MP and the Northern League’s Regional Secretary for Emilia, Northern Italy, Il Fatto Quotidiano reported on Thursday.

The image, which shows a black minister with the head of a monkey under the caption: “Guess who it is???” has now been removed.

When contacted by the paper, Rainieri denied that the image was directed at anyone in particular.

“It’s not written anywhere, there’s no reference to her. If you say so then I’ll take legal action,” he said.

The former MP even claimed that he had nothing to do with the post: “I didn’t write it, it was whoever manages my Facebook page.”

When asked why he had finally decided to take the post down Ranieri said: “I took it down because I don’t like this kind of thing. Cartoons are fine, but not this kind of thing.”

If the Facebook post does turn out to be linked to the Integration Minister it won’t be the first time the Northern League party has come under fire for inappropriate comments aimed at the minister, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy's first black minister.

In July, Kyenge was compared to an orangutan by a leading member of the Northern League, deputy speaker of the Senate Roberto Calderoli, who later claimed he had not intended to be racist.

The minister also had bananas thrown at her during a political rally and one Northern League councillor even called for her to be raped, sparking an outcry and his expulsion from the party.

In August, Kyenge said she would not attend a conference organized by the Northern League party after a torrent of racist abuse from members of the anti-immigration group.

And later that month, Matteo Salvini, an MEP and member of the Northern League came under fire for saying that Kyenge should “go and be a minister in Egypt”, after she suggested the crisis in Egypt might bring an increase in immigration.

More recently in October a poll conducted by IPR Marketing found that more than a fifth of Italians think that having a black minister is wrong.

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ACROSS EUROPE

German, Italian and Austrian presidents make joint call for strong Europe

The presidents of Germany, Italy and Austria called for a strong and united Europe in a joint letter published over the weekend ahead of June's European elections.

Published: 13 May 2024 09:50 CEST
German, Italian and Austrian presidents make joint call for strong Europe

The joint letter was carried in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera a month before the June 6-9 elections, where far-right parties are expected to do well.

“We see that the fundamental values—our values—of pluralism, human rights, and the Rule of Law are being challenged, if not openly threatened, all over the world,” wrote the three leaders.

“At stake here is none other than the foundations of our democratic order.”

Although they all hold largely ceremonial roles, the presidents are all tasked with ensuring respect for their countries’ constitutions.

“It is therefore essential to defend democratic institutions and values, the guarantees of freedom, the independence of the media, the role of democratic political oppositions, the separation of powers, the value of limits to the exercise of power,” wrote Italy’s Sergio Mattarella, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Austria’s Alexander van der Bellen.

In Italy, the far-right Brothers of Italy party is in first place and credited with 27 percent in polls — while in Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is at 15 percent in second place behind the main centre-right party.

In Austria, The Freedom Party (FPO) is also expected to make gains.

While Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — head of the Brothers of Italy — is staunchly pro-NATO and pro-Kyiv, other far-right parties such Matteo Salvini’s League and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France are accused of being pro-Russian.

The three presidents said more European unity was necessary to confront those “who question basic democratic principles”.

“Our liberal democratic order is deeply intertwined with the unification of Europe: by anchoring ourselves to a European community of values and legal norms, we have presented to the world a coexistence based on democratic order and peace,” they said.

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