The fatal shot that a local politician from the right-wing national party Lega fired on a 39-year-old Moroccan on Tuesday evening rekindled the debate on self-defense and gun ownership in Italy. The fatal incident in the town of Voghera in the province of Pavia came after the Morocco-born man and the Lega city councilor Massimo Adriatici, who was responsible for security, had clashed. According to media reports, the Moroccan, known for various offenses, but above all for his obvious psychological instability, harassed passers-by and customers of the restaurant in front of a coffee bar in the city about 70 kilometers south of Milan. City council Adriatici allegedly confronted the man and alerted the police.Thereupon there was apparently an argument between the two men shortly after 10 p.m.
Matthias Rüb
Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.
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According to Adriatici, he was pushed to the ground by the Moroccan, and the shot accidentally came loose from his already drawn pistol and hit the attacker in the chest.
The Moroccan, who was apparently heavily drunk at the time of the incident, died early Wednesday morning from his injuries.
According to eyewitness reports in Italian media, however, Adriatici is said to have drawn his gun, aimed at the unarmed Moroccan and then fired without the latter having attacked him beforehand.
The 47-year-old Adriatici, who was police chief of Voghera until 2011 and was previously in the police force himself, had a gun license for the gun.
After an initial interrogation by the Carabinieri, Adriatici was placed under house arrest late on Tuesday evening. The public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into suspected illegal use of firearms and manslaughter against the politician and lawyer. A detention test date was expected until Thursday evening. The prosecutors had demanded a continuation of the pre-trial detention under house arrest. The party leader of the Lega, the former interior minister Matteo Salvini, took Adriatici against possible prejudice and spoke of a case of "legitimate self-defense". As a victim of aggression, the city council accidentally reacted with a shot that unfortunately fatally hit a foreign citizen, "said Salvini.In the event of an attack, “self-defense is always legitimate,” affirmed the former interior minister.
The party leader of the Social Democrats, Enrico Letta, called for a general ban on gun ownership for private individuals after the incident. "Only carabinieri and police officers should be armed," said Letta. The incident, and especially the heated debate about its background, could be another stress test for Prime Minister Mario Draghi's coalition, which includes both the Lega and the Social Democrats.