PROSECUTORS in Turin have reportedly opened an investigation after the lead singer of rock band Placebo insulted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a live concert.
The LaPresse and ANSA news agencies said the investigation into alleged “vilification” stemmed from a report by police about the comments by Brian Molko during a performance at the Sonic Park Festival in front of 10,000 fans in Stupinigi, near Turin on July 11.
LaPresse reported that as of Monday, Molko had not been placed under investigation.
According to a mobile phone video circulating on social media, Moko said in Italian: “Giorgia Meloni: piece of sh*t, fascist, racist sh*t.”
Italy’s criminal code punishes with a fine ranging from €1,000 to €5,000 (£858 to £4,290) anyone who “publicly defames the republic”, which includes the government, parliament, the courts and the army.
Emails and calls to Turin prosecutors seeking confirmation were not immediately returned and Facebook and Instagram messages left on Placebo’s official accounts went unanswered on Wednesday.
Members of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has its roots in Italy’s neo-fascist movement, denounced the insults and demanded an apology from the band.
“We cannot let an international event that attracts so many people (to Italy) be ruined by filthy words which, amidst a general silence, aim to attack the institutions of the republic,” LaPresse quoted Brothers of Italy politician Augusta Montaruli as saying.
Fans have supported the singer online. Italy’s left wing warned of “dark days” as Meloni’s party won the most votes in the country’s national elections in September 2022.
However, right-wing political figures across Europe, including Marine Le Pen and Spain’s Santiago Abascal sung Meloni's praises. Meloni's victory is considered one of the recent electoral shifts to the far-right sweeping Europe currently.
