Italy’s Deputy Premier clearly wants to go all the way. After dispatching a team to fetch the extreme left-wing Italian terrorist Cesare Battisti in Brazil – with the help of the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro – Salvini has now set his sights on leftist activists in France, according to French daily Le Figaro.
On Saturday, January 19, Salvini said he was ready to meet Emmanuel Macron, to negotiate their extradition. These terrorists include individuals from two decades ago who launched extremist attacks that caused a thousand deaths in Italy between 1970 and 1990.
“I’m ready to go to Paris to meet Macron, if it helps to bring those murderers back to Italy”, tweeted Salvini, as quoted by an article in Italian daily Il Giornale.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, “thirty fugitive terrorists, 27 leftwing and three rightwing” have been in hiding abroad. Among them, 14 are refugees in France. The minister had already said on Sunday, January 13, that he was “ready for official steps to seek cooperation with countries hosting terrorists, starting with Paris”.
In the 1980s, then French President Francois Miterrand had promised that he would not extradite any extreme leftist activist who had renounced the armed struggle. A hundred Italian militants who had been involved in the horrors of the “years of lead” had then chosen France to start a new life.
Meanwhile, the Italian government’s bill on legitimate-self-defence will be approved by the end of February, Salvini said on Friday.
The bill would introduce rules similar to the US stand-your-ground laws where virtually all forms of self-defence on one’s property against intruders are deemed legitimate.
“Many people are asking me when parliament will approve the legitimate-defence law after years of chatter,” said League leader Salvini. “(The answer is) by the end of February. The aim is to (protect) the sacrosanct right to legitimate defence of good citizens, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs and farmers.
“This will be recognised by the Italian law by the end of February. “The job of being a robber will be a little more difficult and a little more risky”. Francesco Minisci, the president of the Italian magistrates union ANM, recently warned that the bill risked “legitimizing serious illegal conduct, including murder”.
He also said there was the danger that the bill could be “unconstitutional”.
Also on Friday, Salvini urged the father of one of the Rigopiano hotel avalanche victims not the pay a fine for crossing a police cordon to lay flowers at the site of his son’s death.
Alessio Feniello, father of Stefano, was fined 4 550 euros for breaching the judicial cordon marking the area where the collapsed hotel had stood.
“I told Feniello Sr not to pay a euro,” said Salvini. “That’s all we need, being fined for taking flowers to your son. If there’s a wrong law we’ll change the law”.
Both Deputy premiers – Luigi Di Maio together with Salvini – took part on in commemoration marking the second anniversary of the Rigopiano avalanche disaster in Abruzzo that claimed 29 lives. Di Maio and Salvini spoke to relatives at the victims at the ceremony, held at area of the disaster.
The avalanche hit the resort as 40 people, including guests and staff, were inside, as the hotel was engulfed by snow during extreme weather conditions at the time.
Some of the 29 victims were instantly crushed to death while others who remained trapped died of hypothermia and asphyxiation. Rescuers reached the site several hours after the incident and had to travel on foot because roads had been blocked by heavy snow.
Eleven people survived.