Italian Army General Roberto Vannacci
has been suspended from duty for 11 months following the
publication of his controversial bestselling book "Il Mondo al
Contrario" (The World Back To Front), in which, among other
things, he says gays are not normal, after a defence ministry
disciplinary procedure, sources said on Wednesday.
In the book Vannacci also espouses the Great Replacement
conspiracy theory about mainly Muslim migrants replacing ethnic
Italians, says only white people can be Italian, and lauds stand
your ground self-defence laws.
On Monday judicial sources said that Vannacci has been placed
under investigation by Rome prosecutors on suspicion of
instigating hate over the book after a number of associations
complained about its content.
On Saturday it emerged that Vannacci, a 55-year-old former
paratrooper commander, has also been placed under investigation
by the defence chiefs of staff for suspected fraud and
embezzlement during his time as military attaché at the Italian
embassy in Moscow.
The rightwing League party of Deputy Premier and Transport
Minister Matteo Salvini, which wants Vannacci to stand for them
in the June European Parliament elections, has said the
"investigations are medals" for the general, arguing he is the
victim of "clockwork justice".
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