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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has drawn questions after personally greeting a convicted killer at an airport near Rome with “full honors.”
Chico Forti, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Florida in 2000 for the murder of hotelier Dale Pike, arrived at Italy’s Pratica di Mare military airport Sunday after Meloni negotiated his transfer from the United States, succeeding where previous Italian governments had failed.
The diplomatic coup was applauded across the board — but Meloni’s decision to welcome Forti with open arms was not.
“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.”
