Guest from Europe at noon on Thursday, the Italian novelist and translator Simonetta Greggio denounced the political opportunity which, according to her, lies behind the announcement of the arrest of former activists convicted of blood crimes and refugees in France.

"We have to rebalance things a bit," she urges. 

INTERVIEW

"It was a fog of blood around us", remembers at the microphone of Europe 1 Simonetta Greggio when she evokes the "years of lead" which mourned her native country between 1969 and 1980. Arrival in France at the Aged 21, the Italian novelist and translator, who made these tragic decades the setting for her novels

Dolce Vita

and

The New Monsters

, reacts to the announcement of the arrest of former activists, mostly far-left , refugees in France.

"I would like us to do the accounts more fairly," she urges. 

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"Macron makes huge winks to his right"

"It's been forty years that there are silences and shadows, that we do not really want to know what happened", begins Simonetta Greggio.

An omerta abruptly broken by Emmanuel Macron's decision to order the arrest of ten former members of the Red Brigades who had taken refuge in France - seven were arrested, one surrendered and two surrendered.

A gesture claimed by Italy for decades - Prime Minister Mario Draghi had however reduced his extradition requests from 200 people to ten after his election.  

Judging that it is necessary "obviously to pay for what one did", the Italian novelist however criticizes the political opportunity which hides, according to her, behind this decision.

"All this comes at a time when Mario Draghi needs to show how strong he is, how good a head of government he is, and why we have to justify the billions he is going to ask of Europe. As for Macron, he's giving huge winks to his right. It's all done as usual, a bit in a rush, and a bit of nonsense. "

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"Italy is also guilty of torture"

“Yes, these people are guilty,” says Simonetta Greggio.

"But Italy was also guilty of torture, of abuses ... We must not forget that all those who committed attacks in the name of the extreme right [also in the years of lead,

note

] were held by the hand by the state, and by part of the Italian secret services "- between 1969 and 1980, the country suffered more than 12,000 attacks, which left 362 dead. 

The novelist calls then to "rebalance things a little and not to cry out for a sort of victory which is not a victory, because it is a victory which hurts the heart. Our democracy has been undermined in this way. It was very hard, very dark, very ugly and very bloody, ”she reminds us.