Deputy Premier and Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini said the Turin book fair's decision to exclude
Altaforte, a rightwing publishing house linked to Neofascist
party CasaPound, amounted to censorship.
"We are in 2019 and we have the censorship of books on the
basis of ideas, the burning of books, which never did any good
in the past," Salvini, who recently published a book of
interviews with Altaforte, told a rally in Pesaro.
"He went on to criticise "the left-wing minority that claims
the right to decide who can make music, who can stage theatre
shows, who can publish books.
"You should respond to ideas with other ideas, not
censorship".
The Altaforte stand at the Turin book fair was completely
dismantled on Thursday.
Altaforte founder Francesco Polacchi has said earlier on
Thursday that he intended to defy the ban.
"If freedom of liberty are dear to you, I'll be waiting to
greet you," Polacchi said on Facebook.
He added that he would present Salvini's book on Saturday.
The fair excluded Altaforte after the city council and the
Piedmont regional government, which are both stakeholders,
requested that the contract for its participation be terminated.
Prosecutors opened a criminal probe for apology of fascism
after the city and the regional government filed a complaint
against Polacchi on Tuesday.
Piedmont Governor Sergio Chiamparino said there had been "no
censorship or book burning as evoked by Matteo Salvini".
"Perhaps the interior minister would have preferred to side
with the fascist publisher of his interviews and would have left
out the Auschwitz victim.
"But the interior minister of a serious government should
above all apply the Scelba and Mancino laws that enact the
Constitution (against Fascism)".
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