It was not enough for the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, some mayors in revolt against his Security decree: now there are also those who accuse him of wearing the uniforms illegally.
In addition to the comments that can be read daily on social networks, and some statements by some side politicians opposed to him, it is news of these hours, even a real complaint that would have been carried out by the Union of trade unions. Base of the Fire Brigade, according to which, the minister in question, would have violated the art. 498 of the penal code.
Given the great respect and appreciation for this body of the state, which every day sees its men engaged (used in a general sense, therefore including women: the European Parliament bureaucrats will forgive me, who recently would have even divulged a lexical guide to put ban each term with the suffix "man") in saving people, even at the cost of their lives, I think the initiative, net of its obvious politicization (made plausible by the words of bitterness expressed by the coordinator of the aforementioned union, Costantino Saportino, according to which "It is under the eyes of all that especially we firefighters, loved by all, we leave the last budget without the shadow of a penny in his pocket and we remain with the last contract that has nothing normative" is that "an idea would be there, to solve the problem of funds: we multiply the abusive apparitions of Salvini in uniform for the maximum of the pecuniary sanction provided for in the article 498 CP. There would be for the whole sector and would also advance something to start repaying the Italian people of the 49 million disappeared from the League") Can not find legal justification.
Although in fact the article in question says that "Anyone, out of the cases provided for in the article 497 ter, abusively port in public the uniform or the distinctive signs of an office or public employment, or of a political, administrative or judicial body, or of a profession for which a special authorization of the State is required, or that is wearing the ecclesiastical habit in public, is punished with a pecuniary administrative sanction from one hundred and fifty-four euros to nine hundred and twenty-nine euros.
The same sanction is subjected to those who claim dignity or academic degrees, titles, decorations or other public honorary signs, or qualities inherent in any of the offices, jobs or professions indicated in the preceding provision.
For the violations referred to in this article the administrative sanction of the publication of the provision that ascertains the violations with the procedures established by art. 36 and the reduced payment provided for by art. 16 of the 24 law November 1981, n. 689.", It is quite clear that this case (however decriminalized) makes reference, in its generality and abstraction to who, with the specific intent to induce someone to believe that he is, perhaps, a fireman, a policeman or a policeman (and via saying), you wear the respective uniform, not having title, and you self-attribute the belonging to the respective body.
However, in the case of the Minister of the Interior it is clear to everyone that its purpose, far from being the one mentioned, is instead to show closeness to the men and women who wear these uniforms, whose role and functions have been unfortunately greatly degraded (according to some and Salvini himself) by the policies of the last years. And that, given his charge, and the political and communicative purpose underlying the wear, from time to time, the shirt (with a lot of badges, well understood: because the absence of them or stars, would not give rise to any problem in this regard) or part of the uniform of this or that Corps, of this or that Armed Force, he certainly does not want to mislead anyone, self-attributing himself to the status of policeman, sailor or ... fireman.
The same jurisprudence (which refers only to a mere completion of the reasoning) is, in this sense, almost univocal in affirming that the illicit conduct referred to in art. 498 cp when the faith of the generality of citizens is misleading both through the public display of distinctive signs of particular public offices or protected professions (for which a special authorization of the State is required), or through the public self-attribution of particular titles conferred by the public authority or of quality inherent to any of the indicated offices or professions (see, among many, the sentence of the Court of Cassation, Section II Criminal, 4033 29 1985 April, or, to come to the times more recent, that of the 24 April 2012, No. 31427, issued by the Ermellini of the VI Section, to name just a few).
Against this, I believe that no one who reads, or who has witnessed an intervention of the Minister Salvini, while wearing a police shirt, or an Army jacket, could ever think that he was, for this same fact , a policeman or a soldier.
Moreover, the very fact that he often changes his shirt, should suggest, even to the most credulous of his listeners, or the most mischievous of his detractors, that one can not be a captain of a vessel and the next, perhaps, corporal of the Alps .
Another account, of course, is the institutional opportunity to wear part of a uniform during a political intervention, but it is on this, then, that we should discuss, and not on the other: why, on the contrary, one would think that the exploitation could be from someone else.
Ah, by the way: to avoid misunderstandings, the title of this article is ironic. These days, you never know. Better to specify.
Avv. Marco Valerio Verni
(photo: Ministry of the Interior)
