Italy to Prosecute Anti-Fascist Singer Brian Molko
British singer Brian Molko. X/ @ansa_br
February 17, 2025 Hour: 1:40 pm
He called Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a ‘fascist, racist, and Nazi’ during a concert in Turin.
On Monday, the Italian Justice Ministry approved the prosecution of the lead singer of the British band Placebo, Brian Molko, who insulted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a 2023 concert in Turin.
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Prosecutors have asked the Justice Ministry for permission to prosecute Molko, as Italian law requires this when the offence involves “insulting state institutions.” Molko could be subject to a fine for this offence.
The legal proceedings began after the Italian Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation when Meloni, who is also the leader of the far-right party Brothers of Italy, filed a lawsuit against the British singer.
Molko called her a “piece of shit, fascist, racist, and Nazi” during his performance on stage in Turin in July 2023. He also called for greater protection of the rights of non-binary and transgender people and urged his audience to turn off their phones to “live in the moment.”
Associated with glam rock icons like Lou Reed and David Bowie, Molko leads Placebo, a British band known as a key figure in glam rock and alternative rock, having sold 14 million copies worldwide.
This is not the first time Meloni has taken legal action against figures from the cultural sphere. A similar case involved the famous Italian journalist Roberto Saviano, whom she sued for defamation after he called her a “bastard” on a television program in 2020, before she became prime minister. The judicial process concluded in October 2023, with Saviano being sentenced to pay Meloni 1,000 euros for defamation.
Meloni also filed a lawsuit against historian Luciano Canfora, who accused her of being a neo-Nazi. However, she later withdrew the complaint, and the case was dismissed by the courts in October 2024.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE