An investigation was launched when it was revealed that the coffin was wrapped in a Nazi flag at a funeral in Rome, the capital of Italy.
Images from the funeral held last Monday for Alessia Augello, a member of the neo-fascist Forza Nuova movement, created an uproar in the country.
The coffin, which was removed from the church after the funeral, was covered with a Nazi flag with a swastika on it.
Meanwhile, it was seen that a group of participants bid farewell to the coffin with a fascist salute.
The priests who led the funeral in the Church of Santa Lucia reacted to these images and said that what happened outside the church was happening without their knowledge and permission.
“We distance ourselves from all words, actions and symbols that can be attributed to extremist ideologies that are far from the message of the Bible, and we want to say that we are deeply saddened and disappointed by what has happened,” the church said in a statement.
The family of 44-year-old Forza Nuova member Alessia Augello, who died on January 7 due to post-operative complications, also argued that the Nazi flag had nothing to do with them.
https://twitter.com/NFratoianni/status/1480897161374093315
Augello’s aunt, Stefania Vesica, said in a Facebook post that the family had nothing to do with what happened in front of the church and said, “Alessia wouldn’t approve of that either.”
However, among the comments on this message, there were also those who questioned why the family did not step in and raise the flag in question.
The Roman Jewish community also issued a statement on the images and reacted, “It is unacceptable that a flag with a swastika is still displayed publicly in this period.”
Digos, the special unit of the police dealing with terrorism and organized crime, launched an investigation into the incident. Images taken by people living in apartments close to the church were also examined.
It is stated that the security forces identified the identities of about 30 people from the images, among them names known in far-right and neo-fascist circles.
Their leaders were arrested
Forza Nuova’s leader, Roberto Fiore, and Rome’s manager, Giuliano Castellino, are still in prison.
The two leaders were arrested in October for the attack on the building of the labor union Cgil, at the demonstration of the Covid document and anti-vaccination. The party’s website has also been inaccessible for months at the request of the prosecutor’s office.
After the Nazi-flagged funeral, calls for the closure of neo-fascist groups such as Forza Nuova began to rise again.
The leader of the Italian Left party, Nicola Fratoianni, said: “Where were the authorities? More importantly, where is the government that should disband the neo-fascist organizations?” he reacted.
Fabrizio De Sanctis, the Rome director of the Anpi association, founded by partisans resisting fascism, said, “The cases of glorifying Nazism and fascism are increasing day by day, these are indicators of the decline and corruption we are living in.”