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CRIME

‘Alarming’ messages of solidarity for Macerata shooter, lawyer reveals

The lawyer representing a man accused of injuring six in a shooting spree targeting immigrants has said the level of solidarity for the shooter is "alarming".

Published: 6 February 2018 10:00 CET
'Alarming' messages of solidarity for Macerata shooter, lawyer reveals
A handgun is pictured in the back seat of the suspect's car. Photo: Giuseppe Bellini/AFP

Suspect Luca Traini, 28, made a fascist salute after the drive-by shooting, which he has said was motivated by the recent murder of a local woman in the Macerata, though he did not know the 18-year-old personally. After hearing on the radio that a Nigerian man had been arrested for the murder, Traini told investigators: “I wanted to avenge [murder victim] Pamela [Mastropietro], and do something about immigration.”

His lawyer, Giancarlo Giulianelli, told Italian media on Monday that he has been given numerous messages of support for Traini.

“Politically, there's a problem. In Macerata, people stop me to give messages of solidarity with Luca,” he said after a meeting with his client. “It's alarming, but it gives us a sense of what is happening.”

Giulianelli went on to say that Traini was “the tip of an iceberg” and that the failure to successfully tackle problems associated with migration was the responsibility of Italy's politicians.

“Politics hasn't given an answer to the problem. The right has exploited it, the left has ignored and underestimated it,” the lawyer told the Ansa news agency.

The victims of the shooting included five men and one woman from Ghana, Mali and Nigeria, though Traini has reportedly said he “did not want” to hit the woman when he opened fire from his car.

Traini has a fascist-inspired tattoo and left a Mussolini votive candle near the spot where Mastopietro's body was found. He is a member of the far-right Northern League, the junior ally in a centre-right coalition that is currently leading opinion polls ahead of a March election. He also ran in local elections last year.   

The party's leader, Matteo Salvini, has said he can't remember meeting Traini. He said that “everyone who shoots someone is a criminal”, but added: “The moral responsibility of every incident of violence that happens in Italy is that of those who have filled it with illegal immigrants.”

Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, who leads the Forza Italia party, described the shooting as “non-political” and called immigration “a social bomb ready to explode”, before reiterating plans to deport 600,000 migrants from the country.

Matteo Renzi, secretary of the centre-left Democratic Party, appealed for “calm and responsibility” after the shooting.

“It would be easy to keep up the controversy aimed at those who feed hatred every day, but it would be a mistake,” said Renzi.

Five Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio also urged party leaders “not to campaign on the skin of the murdered girl and those injured [by Traini]”.

READ MORE: 'It could have been me': Shooting highlights racial tension ahead of Italy elections

POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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