A 17-year-old boy from Cagliari is among those under investigation in an operation coordinated by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office and the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office which dismantled an online network of young neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic extremists .
A total of 15 people are under investigation, including nine minors: a 19-year-old from Pavia was arrested and placed under house arrest . The young men are accused of racial and religious discrimination aggravated by their advocacy of the Holocaust.
The minor from Cagliari must answer for the crime under Article 604 bis, second paragraph, which applies to anyone who "incites to commit or commits violence or acts of provocation to violence for racial, ethnic, national or religious reasons" .
Today, officers from the Cagliari Special Operations Unit (DIGOS), on behalf of the Milan Juvenile Prosecutor's Office, searched the 17-year-old's home, seizing two cell phones and other computer equipment . All items will be sent to the Milan Special Operations Unit (DIGOS) for further investigation.
The minor's name, like that of the other suspects, emerged from an analysis of messaging chats in which " intense neo-fascist, neo-Nazi, and markedly anti-Semitic propaganda took place," the State Police explains, "which often spilled over into open glorification of the perpetrators of serious white supremacist attacks as well as apologias for the Holocaust."
The name of the chat, "Terza Posizione," harks back to the 1970s subversive group of the same name. Around a hundred users have signed up. According to investigators, the arrested 19-year-old from Pavia is the group's initiator and organizer.
Neo-fascist, neo-Nazi and openly anti-Semitic materials circulated in that virtual space, with glorification of white supremacist attackers such as Brenton Tarrant, responsible for the 2019 Christchurch attack, and references to Stephan Balliet, perpetrator of the 2019 attack in Halle, Germany .
Among the contents that emerged was the so-called "white jihad" , an ideological mix of symbols and propaganda of the radical far right and references to jihadist terrorism, united by anti-Semitism.
The 19-year-old also allegedly created a parallel channel called "Third Position Study Center" and, with other suspects, drafted a five-point document titled "Third Position Manifesto," containing anti-Semitic content and subversive intent. According to the prosecution, the online propaganda also aimed to push the group to take action in the "real world," organizing "Revolutionary Action Squads" locally and calling for attacks, which, however, never actually occurred .
The searches involved young people residing in the provinces of Cagliari, Caserta, Cosenza, Matera, Perugia, Rome, Salerno, Siena, Turin, and Viterbo.
(Unioneonline)