An amateur footballer who gave
a fascist salute and uncovered a Republic of Salò t-shirt on a
pitch near the WWII atrocity site of Marzabotto in November was
cleared of apology for fascism on Monday.
Bologna prosecutors asked for charges to be shelved against
Eugenio Maria Luppi and their request was upheld by a
preliminary investigations judge.
Prosecutors said "no danger to the democratic order can be
found" in the player's actions.
Luppi, a player for amateur soccer team '65 Futa', did the
salute and unveiled the T-shirt with a fascist eagle symbol
after scoring in the northern town of Marzabotto, near Bologna.
Marzabotto was the site of a Nazi massacre during World War
II.
The player was accused of apology for Fascism, a criminal
offence.
The case followed the international outrage caused by some
Lazio fans using mocked-up images of Anne Frank in an AS Roma
shirt for anti-Semitic insults of fans of their city rivals.
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