The Italian government on Thursday approved a decree to combat juvenile delinquency following a series of crimes committed by groups of young people.
Imprisonment will continue to apply only from the age of 14, but if earlier a teenager had to be sentenced to nine years in prison, now the minimum term has been reduced to six years.
The document, approved by the Council of Ministers, comes a week after Prime Minister Georgia Meloni visited Caivano, a southwestern Italian suburb of Naples known for its high crime rate and drug trafficking. In July, two 12-year-old cousins were allegedly repeatedly raped by six young men in the area.
During the visit, Meloni promised to beef up security at Kaivano and restore the abandoned and dilapidated sports complex where some of the alleged abuses took place.
The decree includes funding for rehabilitation, as well as a provision for the appointment of a special commissioner for Kaivano’s security.
Meloni’s right-wing government, which came to power last year, was eager to demonstrate its tough fight against crime. One of the first actions of the new leader was the approval of a decree banning “rave parties.”
The prime minister received death threats prior to his visit to Caivano, in part because of the phasing out of the minimum income for survival in Italy.
Among the social media posts was one that said locals should “greet fisherwoman Meloni with rotten tomatoes for taking away the livelihood of a group of people who live in these areas in precarious conditions.”
Another report says that he expected Meloni to leave his visit with physical marks on his body “to understand the problems it caused.”
Following the announcement of the visit, several intimidating messages against Meloni surfaced on social media under the pretext of cutting state support for segments of the population who receive the minimum income to survive.
The threatening messages provoked a reaction of solidarity in various political circles, right and left.
(News updated at 12:45 p.m. to correct information provided by the Luz agency that six-year-olds would be arrested. This was the minimum, which was reduced to six years)
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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