AGI – Anti-terrorism operation by the State Police, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan – District Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate: an Egyptian citizen and a naturalized Italian of Egyptian origin were arrested on charges of participation in an association with terrorist purposes and incitement to commit crimes for terrorist purposes.
No connection with the attack in Brussels
The operation has no connection with the attack in Brussels nor with the arrest last Saturday of a 33-year-old Egyptian man responsible for a bare-knuckle attack against three passers-by in the Lombardy capital, holding a copy of the Koran while uttering phrases like “Allah is great”.
Belonging to ISIS
The two men of Egyptian origin arrested by the Digos of Milan for their “participation” in the international terrorist organization called Isis would have been “extremely active in digital propaganda and proselytism on behalf of ISIS, making themselves available to the organization and financing ‘support causes’ of the same to which they would have sworn an oath of membership and loyalty”. Milan’s chief prosecutor Marcello Viola announced this in a note.
The suspects are residents of two towns in the Milan hinterland. According to the investigations, the two, workers in the cleaning sector, one as an entrepreneur and the other as an employee, knew each other personally. In particular, one of the two would have indoctrinated the other and convinced him to swear an oath to ISIS. An element that emerged from the discovery of a video, with the ceremony during a search carried out in recent months.
Arrested for calling for jihad in Palestine
The two arrested were apparently part of Whatsapp and Telegram groups in which Palestinian jihad was praised.
In the chats, threats to Meloni
In the chats and messages exchanged between the two, there was reference to explicit threats towards state bodies, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. From the investigations, it does not appear that they were ready to take action.
The two men also allegedly financed the terrorist organization through money sent to the widows of ISIS fighters and also to a militant of the self-styled Islamic State, whose membership was confirmed by the United States of America.
Tajani: “Guard level already raised, let’s keep everything under control”
The guard level has already been raised for a few days, we are keeping everything under control” said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Radio Anch’io. “Carabinieri, police, financial police, penitentiary police, intelligence services they work with prevention activities, so much so that this morning two people accused of terrorism were arrested”.
“At this moment – added the deputy prime minister – there are no direct threats towards Italy, but there can always be some agitated fundamentalist acting alone, some maverick. Prevention is maximum, but we have no reported imminent dangers. We are working , everything is done to guarantee security, including checks on immigrants who arrive because there must be no terrorist infiltrators.”
PM Milan. “An arrested man indoctrinated his young son”
The 44-year-old Egyptian with Italian citizenship, arrested during the night “has an extremist indoctrination activity against his youngest teenage son”. The prosecutor of the district anti-terrorism section of Milan Alessandro Gobbis, head of the investigation conducted by the Digos of Milan, said this at a press conference. Both the 44-year-old and the other 49-year-old arrested would have a “normal life” and “stable jobs” in the construction sector (not the cleaning sector, as previously reported). From the investigations it does not appear that they assiduously frequented places of Islamic worship and their propaganda and exaltation activity of the self-styled Islamic State would have taken place only on the web
700 expulsions since 2015
“Our country is unique in that of expulsion measures for national security. Since 2015, as many as 700 measures of this type have been issued. It is certainly a safeguard for the safety of this country because it is particularly pro-active and preventive” , underlined the Milan police commissioner. “Our regulatory framework is adequate, cutting-edge and which we make extensive use of.” he added.
Under investigation, ready to hit Meloni with slippers
The precautionary custody order against two Egyptian citizens also reports “a threat aimed at the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni”. One of the two suspects, Alaa Refaei, “on 3 October 2022, responding to a post commenting on a video in which there was an image of the Prime Minister with Senator Silvio Berlusconi, wrote verbatim: ‘don’t worry about us, we know very well how to silence them and stop them at the right moment… we live with them like bandits… ready to hit them with our slippers”.
In a note reported by the investigating judge in the order, it is specified that “by bandit the interpreter meant the word Baltagiya or al-Baltaiya (in Arabic: , al-balaiya), but also Baltaga or Baltaa (in Arabic: , al- balaa)”. “It is a word in the Egyptian language which originally meant ‘hitman’ – we read again in the document – but which ended up indicating a thug belonging to a gang of criminals, charged with attacking an opponent, mostly political, at the within the logic of an authoritarian regime”.
The suspects also intended to kill unarmed civilians
Among the purposes that would have animated the activity of Alaa Refaei and Mohamed Nosair there would also have been that of “killing defenseless civilians”. The association would have had the aim of “committing an indeterminate series of acts of violence with the aim of terrorism in Syrian and Iraqi territory, as well as in the territories of many other states also through the killing of unarmed civilians in Western states and in popular tourist locations predominantly by Western citizens”.
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2023-10-17 12:36:00
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