A rapper from Udine has been convicted by the Supreme Court in Rome for making a video. The reason is not the video itself, but rather the location: the young man was dancing on the steps of the monument in Redipuglia in the northern Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, where the remains of more than 100,000 soldiers who died in World War I lie. remains.
Justin Owusu, originally from Ghana, was legally sentenced to eight months in prison. The friend who made the video was sentenced to six months in prison. The case dates back to 2017, when the two men posted a video clip on YouTube in which they danced on the tombstones to the rhythm of rap.
The gesture, considered disrespectful to the site and the dead, led to accusations of violation of Article 408 of the Italian Penal Code, which criminalizes the desecration of graves.
Does the singer’s origin make the punishment more severe?
The conviction was handed down in 2020 at first instance by the Court of the City of Gorizia (Görizia) with a prison sentence of eight months for the rapper and six months for his friend. The Trieste Court of Appeal later confirmed the verdict. The rapper’s lawyer had argued that the video was not intended to belittle the fallen soldiers, but that it was an art form. The defense also suspected that the rapper’s African origins had a negative influence on the verdict.
Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court in Rome rejected the appeal and upheld the verdict. The judges made it clear that “respect for the dead” must be respected, regardless of the intentions of the defendants. The ruling sets an important precedent for the jurisprudence on the desecration of graves.
Memorial once built under Mussolini
Redipuglia is the largest military cemetery in Europe, containing the remains of 100,000 fallen soldiers, and is located 30 kilometres from Trieste. It was built under Benito Mussolini in 1938. The terraces symbolically represent a huge soldiers’ entrance, at the highest point of which rise three bright crosses, reminiscent of Golgotha. Pope Francis visited the Redipuglia monument on 13 September 2014 – 100 years after the start of the First World War.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
