Youssef Siher is free again: the investigating judge has not authorised his detention. Meloni: “A shameful decision”. The judges’ fury

The investigating magistrate at the Court of Milan, Tiziana Landoni, has not authorised the detention of Youssef Siher, administrator of the Telegram chat group and the Instagram page "Movimento 17 ottobre", and he is to be released. This has been announced by the defence team of the 30-year-old researcher, who was arrested by the police on charges of incitement to commit a criminal offence, aggravated by the aim of terrorism and organised violence during public demonstrations. The prosecution had asked the investigating judge to confirm the detention order, arguing that there was both a risk of reoffending and a risk of absconding. 

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni commented on the news on social media. “I’ll put it in no uncertain terms: I consider the Milan investigating magistrate’s decision to be shameful,” she said in a video. “I really don’t know how a normal state can defend decent people in the face of such decisions by certain members of the judiciary,” she added. “I think it is an unbearable affront to the work of the police, the investigators, the Ministry of the Interior and, in general, all those who strive to protect decent people from the risk of seeing their towns and businesses devastated,” she added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Matteo Salvini also commented on the matter: “It is unbelievable that an individual has been released when the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office itself had charged him with extremely serious offences, including incitement to commit a crime aggravated by the aim of terrorism, whilst also highlighting the risk of him absconding and reoffending,” he said in a statement. “Following the violence and devastation of recent weeks,” he continued, “this is a shameful, incomprehensible and absurd decision. If there are further incidents of violence and damage – starting with this Friday’s demonstrations in Milan – will the judge who decided to send this ‘gentleman’ home pay for it out of his own pocket?”

“I consider the decision by the Milan investigating magistrate to release Youssef Siher – regarded as one of the main instigators of the violence that took place in Milan last week – to be extremely serious,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Antonio Tajani on X. “Releasing him means endangering the country’s security.” According to the leader of Forza Italia, this is “a decision that offends and undermines the work of the law enforcement agencies engaged in the fight against terrorism and crime. Certain decisions must be taken with greater caution and a sense of responsibility,” concluded Tajani.

The ANM responded strongly to the harsh criticism from President Meloni and the two Deputy Prime Ministers, expressing solidarity with Landoni. “The decisions of magistrates may be challenged on their merits and appealed within the proceedings. The delegitimisation of colleagues, even by those holding the highest institutional offices, is, however, a now customary exercise in intimidation that has no place in a state governed by the rule of law. An intolerable practice,” wrote the Central Executive Committee of the National Magistrates’ Association in a statement, adding that “magistrates cannot be the enemy to be singled out in every circumstance within public debate” and that “this behaviour damages the credibility of the institutions”. 

Senior officials at the Milan Court have also responded, describing the statements made by “prominent political figures” as “inadmissible”. The judge “applies constitutional principles of legal civility”, wrote Fabio Roia and Ezia Maccora in a statement, adding, “that shame pertains to other areas of social life, not to the responsible and difficult exercise of judicial authority”.

According to the investigating judge, there is “no serious evidence of guilt” against Siher, neither in relation to the requirements for pre-trial detention nor in relation to the charges brought by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office. In his posts and statements, the activist “never suggests resorting to violent action”, she writes, “nor does he appear to have cited the serious violence that took place on 17 and 18 October 2026 (which he did not even mention) as a model for carrying out the forms of protest and collective mobilisation he proposed”. Furthermore, it cannot even be claimed that Siher, in the run-up to the demonstration on 24 October, “promoted the formation of a group comprising at least five people, organised even on an ad hoc basis, which, during the demonstration, using offensive weapons, might have engaged in behaviour likely to pose a real danger to people’s safety and also cause damage to property, emulating the violent actions that took place on 17 and 18 October 2026”, the order states. “Nor can it be said that the suspect incited or instigated the commission of such conduct.”