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Protests in Italy as Jair Bolsonaro given honorary citizenship

A northern Italian town conferred honorary citizenship on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, although demonstrators made their feelings about him known.

Published: 2 November 2021 08:52 CET
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives in Anguillara Veneta, northeast Italy, to be awarded honorary citizenship.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives in Anguillara Veneta, northeast Italy, on November 1st to be awarded honorary citizenship. Photo: Piero CRUCIATTI/AFP

The right-wing Brazilian leader skipped climate talks in Glasgow to receive the accolade in the northeastern town of Anguillara Veneta, following his showing at the G20 summit in Rome this weekend at which he received  a frosty reception from other world leaders.

The city council decided to honour Bolsonaro with mayor Alessandra Buoso, a member of the far-right League party, saying the town wished to “reward the welcome that migrants from Anguillara Veneta have received in Brazil”.

But the move caused a stir in Italy and about 200 people protested against honouring a leader who has faced international criticism for his policies on the environment in the wake of massive deforestation in Brazil.

READ ALSO: G20 agrees on 1.5 degree climate change target in Rome

Bolsonaro is also under fire at home after a Brazilian Senate commission endorsed a report seeking to indict him on nine counts, including crimes against humanity, over his Covid response. 

About 606,000 Brazilians have died from Covid-19, meaning the country’s death toll is second only to the United States.

Protesters carried banners reading “Bolsonaro out” and “No citizenship for dictators”, while one read “Anguillara loves Brazil but not Bolsonaro”.

The Democratic Party (PD) in Veneto said the decision to honour Bolsonaro was “a disgrace” and  a “shame for Italy”.

Protests as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro receive honorary citizenship in Anguillara Veneta. Photo: Piero CRUCIATTI/AFP

In nearby Padua, police fired water cannon to keep some 500 demonstrators at bay outside the San Antonio basilica which Bolsonaro had earlier visited while the venue was closed off to the general public.

Monday’s ceremony took place at an elegant 17th century villa with Bolsonaro guest of honour at a long dinner to which around 200 people were invited.

About a thousand people from the Italian town, which now has a population of 4,200, fled poverty to emigrate to Brazil at the end of the 19th century, among them Bolsonaro’s grandfather.

“I am moved to be here. It’s from here that my grandparents left” for Brazil, Bolsonaro told the gathering.

“I am pleased to be surrounded by good people, the AGI news agency quoted him as saying.

“It was God’s will that I become president of Brazil… We are doing excellent work which is certainly recognised by the people but not by the mass media,” he went on.

Italian media reported that hosting Bolsonaro had cost the town’s council about €10,000.

On Tuesday Bolsonaro will be accompanied on a visit to Pistoia, Tuscany, by League leader Matteo Salvini, before leaving for Brazil in the afternoon.

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POLITICS

Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government ‘censorship’

Italy's ranking for press freedom worsened in 2024, with concerns about the silencing effect of defamation lawsuits and accusations of political influence over the country's media.

Published: 3 May 2024 09:43 CEST
Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government 'censorship'

The annual World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday ranked Italy 46th, which was five places lower than in 2023 and behind all other western European countries and most EU member states.

Italy ranked alongside Poland (47th), while Hungary, Malta, Albania and Greece were the only other countries in Europe to score lower.

France, Spain, Germany and most other major European countries improved their ranking in 2024, with Norway, Denmark and Sweden topping the table for press freedom again this year.

Globally however press freedom has worsened due to political attacks in the past year, according to RSF, including the detention of journalists, suppression of independent media outlets and widespread dissemination of misinformation.

READ ALSO: How much control does Giorgia Meloni’s government have over Italian media?

The index ranks 180 countries on the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently.

Italy fell in the ranking amid concerns about lawsuits filed against journalists by politicians and following recent allegations of a creeping government influence on the country’s media.

“For the most part, Italian journalists enjoy a climate of freedom,” RSF said.

“But they sometimes give in to the temptation to censor themselves, either to conform to their news organisation’s editorial line, or to avoid a defamation suit or other form of legal action, or out of fear of reprisals by extremist groups or organised crime.”

Italian journalists have in recent months alleged censorship at state broadcaster Rai, which critics say is increasingly influenced by Giorgia Meloni’s government, while a member of her coalition government is trying to acquire news agency AGI.

Italian journalists also “denounce attempts by politicians to obstruct their freedom to cover judicial cases by means of a “gag law” – legge bavaglio – on top of the SLAPP procedures that are common practice in Italy,” RSF said.

READ ALSO: ‘Warning’ to Italy’s journalists as court fines reporter for defaming Meloni

It noted the fact that ‘defamation’ remains a crime in Italy, and that this is often used in lawsuits filed against individual journalists by powerful public figures – such as in the high-profile 2023 case of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suing anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano.

Defamation through the media can be punished in Italy with prison sentences of between six months to three years.

Mafia threats also remain a major issue in Italy, RSF noted, where some 20 journalists are under round-the-clock police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” RSF said.

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