Persecution of Human Rights Activists and Anti Fascists
Such cases are quite rare in Italy. On April 9, 2014, six anti-fascists were fined by the court in Urbino for insulting the leader of the local branch of Forza Nuova in 2011.
On September 24, 2015 adviser to the City Hall of Rome from the Party of the Communist Revival Nunzio D'Erme was arrested on charges of attacking a police officer during one of antifascist demonstrations.
In 2017, the only case of state harassment of human rights defenders can be mentioned - when Interior Minister Marco Minniti supported a radical right initiative to prevent pro-immigrant NGOs from participating in rescue operations near Italian shores.
The decision has been criticized by several NGOs, but the minister said the restrictions are for security reasons and are aimed at stopping human trafficking. However, many are convinced that if human rights activists had been in place, the situation would have been different.
In 2018, volunteer associations or left-wing NGOs that advocate for immigrant aid and multiculturalism have often been the target of online and physical violence by members of several far-right groups. According to a report released Feb. 14 by the UN, there are a growing number of cases of what the report calls "solidarity crimes," which means helping immigrants or refugees when they arrive in the country illegally. The report also points out how these organizations are constantly de-legitimized by the official media and public opinion is no longer in solidarity with their initiative, seeing them as subversive figures who want to smuggle into the country and protect immigrants perceived as criminals.
