Several leaders of two small Italian far-right groups were sentenced on Wednesday in the first instance to more than eight years in prison for their involvement in the violent protests that took place in Rome in 2021, AFP and Agerpres reported.

In October of the same year, several hundred people clashed with the police in the center of the capital, destroying, among other things, the headquarters of the CGIL, Italy’s main trade union confederation. Security forces had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, and the clashes lasted for several hours.

The most famous of these leaders are Roberto Fiore, the head of Forza Nuova, who was sentenced by a criminal court in Rome to eight years and six months in prison, and Giuliano Castellino, the former leader of Forza Nuova in the capital, who in 2022 created his own political movement, Free Italy , sentenced to eight years and seven months.

Five other members of these small far-right groups were sentenced to terms ranging from eight years and two months to eight years and six months in prison.

Roberto Fiore, 64, father of 11, Forza Nuova is a neo-fascist party founded in 1997 whose agenda includes banning abortion, ending immigration and repealing laws punishing political, racial or religious incitement.

In the various elections in which he participated alone or in coalition with other far-right groups, he always received less than 0.5% of the vote.

Giuliano Castellino’s Italia Libera group shares with Forza Nuova the desire for Italy’s exit from the European Union and NATO, and also calls for an end to the supply of weapons to Ukraine, as well as the lifting of Western sanctions against Russia.

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