Some of the insults that an Alpine sergeant reserved for his superior, Major Karim Akalay Bensellam, the only Italian official of the Alpini of Maghreb origin, included: “I’m Moroccan from a sh*thole”, “Piece of sh*t. I’m petty” and “He’s not worthy of being in the Italian army.”
The Alpini are a specialised mountain warfare infantry corps of the Italian Army. They are currently organised in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpine Troops Headquarters. Established in 1872, the Alpini are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world.
According to the indictment, these insulting sentences were pronounced by the sergeant also in the presence of other soldiers and on different occasions.
According to reports from the Corriere della Sera, the Verona court sentenced the soldier this week to one year and six months, for an offense never before contested in Italy by an Alpini soldier: racism.
In fact, the sergeant was convicted of “continued military defamation aggravated by ethnic discrimination”. A symbolic and very heavy sentence was handed down by the judge, especially considering the fact that the prosecutor had asked for only four months.
And the harshness of the sentence has left lawyers perplexed, both the defense and the prosecution.
Bensellam’s lawyer, in fact, declared that he was stunned “faced with the unusual condemnation, it is a very high penalty for a military court”. The lawyer for the condemned sergeant was also very surprised: “I would call it unbelievable,” he said referring to the sentence.
“There were 14 witnesses for my client who contradicted the major and who were never heard at the trial. We will clearly appeal,” the lawyer added. But, there were also several witnesses who spoke out against the accused: “During the flag-raising ceremony it was customary to hear the sergeant insult him,” one witnesses said.
The elder did not seem to like his subordinate and he did not seem to be particularly worried about his negative attitude towards him either even though Bensellam was also on trial, accused of having attacked the sergeant. All of this, however, ended with the acquittal of the major, due to the “particular tenuousness of the facts”.
The conviction of the sergeant represents a victory for the major from he Maghreb and a historic sentence for the Alpine troops. But the last word has not yet been spoken: The sergeant will appeal against the harsh sentence.