Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni
Photo: REUTERS
As you know, rock musicians in an attempt to maintain their image of hooligans and “anti-systemics” often go for extravagant acts. And, if most of them are limited to specific behavior on stage, well, in extreme cases, they specially come across “under the fly” of the traffic police, then the leader of the British group “Placebo” (Placebo) Brian Molko this time clearly went too far.
On July 11 of this year, during a performance at the Sonic Park festival in the Italian city of Stupinigi, located near Turin, the English frontman decided to act as an expert and characterize the political course of the leader of the Forward Italy party and, in combination Prime Minister Georgie Meloni. But in the end, as they say, he finished and moved on to personal insults.
The musician, accustomed to outrageous antics, called the head of the Italian government “a piece of shit, fascist, Nazi and racist” and sent her to a known address, reports the daily Il Fatto Cuotidiano.
However, such a thoughtless exercise of the right to free speech and free expression can cost Molko dearly. Almost immediately after the artist’s scandalous statement, the Turin public prosecutor’s office initiated a pre-trial control under Article 290 of the Italian Penal Code (Discredit of the Republic, constitutional institutions and the armed forces). According to him, a British citizen faces a fine of up to 5,000 euros (about 500 thousand rubles). Only Meloni’s own statement was missing, and now that it has been received, the case can be started. At the same time, it is not yet clear whether the prime minister intends to file a civil lawsuit against the rocker; in this case, the cost of his “bold statements” could rise to a five-figure amount in European currency.
Placebo is a British alternative rock and indie rock band. Formed in 1994 by two musicians Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal. The band’s popularity peaked in the early 2000s.
