Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said
Tuesday Italy's defence top brass had made a mistake in sacking
an anti-gay general after the minister ordered disciplinary
proceedings against him because they had turned him into a
martyr.
General Roberto Vannacci was removed from his post as head of
the military geographical institute after self-publishing a
book, The World Back To Front, which slams gays, Jews, migrants,
environmentalists and feminists among others.
His free-speech rights have been defended by many members of
Premier Giorgia Maloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI)
party, of which Crosetto was a co-founder, while rightwing
League leader Matteo Salvini, a key Meloni ally, has had a very
cordinal phone call with the general, defended his right to
speak out, and said he would gladly read his book.
Crosetto told Corriere della Sera in an interview Tuesday that
some among the top brass wanted to take even tougher action
against Vannacci but it had in any case been a mistake to sack
him, thus turning him into a martyr.
"I would not have even made the change of function, precisely to
extinguish the case and avoid Vannacci becoming a martyr," he
told the Milan-based paper, Italy's biggest selling non sports
daily.
"But I can assure you that the people I spoke to and who then
acted (to sack Vannacci) would actually have demanded much more
toughness".
Asked about the 'friendly fire' from the FdI members who have
staunchly defended the generals right to air his anti-gay and
other controversial views, Crosetto replied: "I do not consider
any of those who spoke about me as friends, since they are
mystifying reality."
The minister said that, though Vannacci had now become a martyr
and a hero to many and his book is topping sales lists, he would
act as he did if he had to, stressing that the general had a
role of responsibility and should not have aired personal views
in a book.
"I would do what I did again because the Minister of Defence had
to act like that. I did not speak as a politician but as a
representative of the institutions," said Crosetto.
Meanwhile Vannacci, who said in the book he is the heir of
Julius Caesar, drawing flak from those who recalled the great
Roman general was a notorious bisexual, has again turned down an
offer from the far right Forza Nuova (FN) party to stand for
them in the Senate seat at Monza left vacant by the late Silvio
Berlusconi.
As for his phone conversation with Salvini, Vannacci told
Corriere: "I won't say anything about the content of the
communication with Salvini, but it certainly pleased me."
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