Former integration minister
Cecile Kyenge on Wednesday said she would appeal to the European
Court of Justice against the Italian Senate's approval of a
defamation case against anti-immigrant Northern League Senator
Roberto Caderoli for likening her to an orangutan without the
aggravating charge of instigation to racial hatred.
"The Senate's decision throws a heavy shadow on the fight
against racism, just when populism and xenophobia are growing
because of the refugee crisis," Kyenge said, saying the Senate's
decision not to allow the aggravating charge sent "a devastating
message to young people".
In 2013 Calderoli, himself a former minister, compared
Kyenge to an orangutan.
Kyenge, a doctor born in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
became Italy's first black minister in 2013 when she was sworn
into ex-premier Enrico Letta's cabinet.
She is now an MEP.
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