The tribute to Ramelli is democratic

Repubblica di Milano was very surprised that the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office had ‘changed its mind’ regarding the criminal liability of right-wing activists who, for years, have been commemorating the young activist Sergio Ramelli – who was beaten to death with iron bars by left-wing activists half a century ago – with the ‘fascist salute’. In reality, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has not exactly ‘changed its mind’. Quite simply, it has taken note of a 2024 ruling by the Joint Chambers of the Court of Cassation, which stated that, in this and other similar situations, the existence or otherwise of a ‘concrete danger of the reorganisation of the Fascist party’ should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has now dropped charges against eighteen activists who had taken part in the march for Ramelli in 2023. Notably, the decision to dismiss the case was proposed directly by the prosecuting prosecutor. The reasons were very clear: there are no “elements such as to suggest that the democratic foundations of the Italian Republic could have been placed in concrete danger”, whilst the Roman salute on that occasion did not “express an ideology of intolerance and discrimination”. Moreover, in July, the Milan Court of Appeal had upheld the acquittals of 23 defendants in relation to the same demonstration held in 2019, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Contrary to the astonishment of the so-called ‘anti-fascists’ – who would do better to concern themselves with the new ‘red-browns’ rather than the trappings of decades past – it is surprising that the same court in 2025, a year after the Court of Cassation’s ruling, upheld thirteen convictions for the exact same incident, but on the basis of complaints lodged in 2018. It may appear paradoxical, but every year in Milan there are those who feel obliged to report the commemoration of Ramelli; among them are many who still regard his murder as a minor, forgivable excess of anti-fascism. Now, in line with the Court of Cassation’s ruling, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office may have put an end to this ritual, regarding which even La Russa has repeatedly called for a reconciliation of memories.