“He was welcomed with full honors. All that was missing was the red carpet,” said Walter Verini, a Senator for the center-left Democratic Party (PD), referring to photos displaying the premier grinning warmly, hands clasped, as she welcomed the 65-year-old into Italy.
“Work on bringing Chico Forti started a long time ago and we pushed hard for it; me included,” added Verini, speaking to Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Monday. “It is a good thing that this government finished the job,” he added. “But what Prime Minister Meloni did is not acceptable.”
Left-leaning Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano also expressed puzzlement. “I don’t understand the reason for receiving him with great pomp,” ran a headline Monday by columnist Leonardo Botta.
“I understand the legitimate satisfaction for the diplomatic operation,” Botta wrote, “but it escapes me why [Meloni] would see the propaganda opportunity in welcoming, with great pomp, a man found conclusively guilty — even if he has always professed his innocence.”