• Teacher exalts Hitler: Rector Siena announces measures, he appeals to freedom of thought

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03 December 2019The procuring of Siena, Salvatore Vitello, ordered the preventive seizure of the twitter profile of professor Emanuele Castrucci and the obscuring of the tweets in support of Hitler. The execution of both measures was delegated to the police post. The prosecution opened an investigation file hypothesizing the crime of propaganda and instigation to commit crimes on the grounds of racial ethnic and religious discrimination, aggravated by denial.

Fioramonti: "We need to reaffirm the principles"
"Today there is so much need to reaffirm scientific principles in the face of a drift for which every idea can be questioned: from climate change, which for many does not exist, to even the founding values ​​of our republic, which seem to be for some weekend themes ". Thus the Minister of Education, University and Research, Lorenzo Fioramonti. For the minister, "today technology does not help", because in front of a keyboard "one lets himself go". "Perhaps we too exaggerate, at times, to think that the debate on social media is the mirror of society; perhaps it is not so. The fact remains that those who have an institutional role, be it a minister, a rector or a university professor, there is a certain clarity in the way in which one exposes himself to certain themes ".

Timely reaction of the University of Siena
"I am very happy that the University of Siena has reacted in a very decisive and timely manner. I have had the opportunity to interact immediately with the rector Francesco Frati to ensure that even in the face of these situations I can give a signal of concreteness and timeliness "said Minister Fioramonti. "In the face of the apology of a disastrous past like Nazism and Fascism, we are not joking. I am studying the situation and I am worried that a certain way of doing politics and a certain exasperation of tones in the press, where everything is now passable, is in some way unleashing the worst in a part of the population. This must be countered because there is freedom of thought, freedom of expression, but they are exercised within the limits set by the Constitution ".

Tuscany Region: "That professor cannot be in contact with young people"
"We have immediately taken a position as a Region of Tuscany, it is not a complicated thing: the apology of fascism is a crime for our Constitution and we as a Region have asked for the removal of this professor who cannot be in contact with our Young people". This was stated by the vice president of the Tuscany Region, Monica Barni, on the sidelines of an event in Florence.

Rossi: "We raise the Fiano law against Nazi apology"
"Against the Fascist propaganda we re-launch the Fiano law. Many sardines would understand that we listen to them. We cannot be tolerant of the intolerant, there is no freedom for those who would suppress it if it came to power". Thus stated Enrico Rossi, president of the Tuscany Region. "Our Constitution, born of the Resistance, and written by the Christian Democrats, the Italian Communists, the Socialists and the Liberals, is inspired by these thoughts when in the XII disposition it says: 'The reorganization, in any form, of the dissolved fascist party is forbidden' What is surprising is that there is not yet a law sufficiently clear to combat those who make apology and spread the aberrant thought of Nazism and fascism, and it is also surprising that the prosecutor's offices are not particularly active in this field. I propose that the Democratic Party take back the Fiano law against fascist propaganda and make its approval a decisive test for the majority. Di Maio will perhaps not understand, but they would understand many sardines that are invading the squares of Italian cities to the song of Bella ciao ".

The professor claims his freedom
"I received from him a message in which he continues to claim his freedom, which we believe is not admissible because it goes beyond the provisions of the Constitution and our penal system". To report, speaking of Emanuele Castrucci, it was today the rector of Siena, Francesco Frati, who also explained that he had not spoken to the professor "because having decided to take legal action, my lawyers will possibly speak to us". For Friars it is necessary "to proceed in the most direct and expeditious manner so that these facts may be prosecuted. We did this through a complaint to the prosecutor's office at the Siena court" and "with the initiation of a disciplinary procedure that obviously will follow the dictated roads by our internal regulations. That kind of behavior should not find space in our universities. We want to clarify and understand how to prevent this professor from continuing to teach ".

The principal: upset by the tweets of prof
"To me, no student had reported these cases. Even yesterday, reading back the professor's tweets, I was quite upset, this is an escalation. In light of what we read yesterday, certainly a few months ago we could have understood that there was something strange, but it was much less virulent tweets than the sensational one published two days ago ".

The Democratic Party asks for measures against racist professors
"We ask Minister Fioramonti to take urgent measures to prevent and stigmatize the episodes of teachers and professors who manifest, especially on social media, openly racist, violent, xenophobic, if not Nazi declarations". This was declared by Lucia Ciampi, deputy PD, presenting a question to her first signature and signed by all members of the PD group in the Chamber. "The post of the professor of the University of Siena, who praised Hitler is only the latest in a series of very serious and unacceptable public statements by a teacher. It is not a specious polemic against the" bad teachers ", but of an evident incompatibility between those who foment racial hatred despite assuming a central role in the education of children and young people.The school, beyond personal political convictions, cannot renounce its vocation as a place of integration and contrast to every form of racism: a timely and effective intervention of the ministry is therefore necessary, starting from a code of ethics shared by the entire teaching body especially with regard to utterances on social networks: mere apologies, which are too late, cannot continue to be the solution of the problem".