General Vannacci on the new disciplinary procedure: ‘I am calm’

“I am extremely calm and increasingly convinced of the correctness of my actions. I have always behaved correctly in my long military career and I will respond in the appropriate places”. This is the general’s reply Roberto VannacciMEP elected as an independent in the ranks of the League, in relation to the new disciplinary proceedings arising from the publication of his second book, Courage Wins. And thus confirming what was written today by Republic, that is, that the soldier on leave – as anticipated by our newspaper on March 30 – has a new file opened with the army. The news is that the results of this further investigation are now close and the greatest risk that the general runs is the removal from the rank of general, which would therefore demote him to a private, or also called “lower class soldier”.

The general, already suspended for 11 months last February from the armed forces for “lack of sense of responsibility”, then landed in politics, is defended by the lawyer George Cardwho speaking with theAgi explains that “Vannacci faces the new disciplinary procedure in question with the absolute serenity and awareness of someone who has always acted in compliance with the rules and procedures established by the military system. He therefore trusts that the correctness and integrity that have always distinguished his actions will be recognized again by the competent authorities – the words of the defense -. At present, the data available on the procedure are limited, as access to the relevant documentation has not yet been made. However, it is possible to state with conviction, even more than in the previous disciplinary procedure – he adds – that General Vannacci did not deal with confidential service topics in the second book either and therefore did not incur any violation of article 1472 of the Military Code, which establishes the limits within which a soldier can express himself publicly”. And then, Carta concludes: “Considering that the issue is strictly linked to the service, it is not possible to provide further details on the procedure outside of the competent institutional offices. Any clarification will be given only in the appropriate offices”.

It should be remembered that the first sanction received by Vannacci was just below the maximum allowed for this measure by military justice, that is 12 months. This is to say that the general’s conduct was already considered very serious at the first round by the military commands: that is, having written a book with controversial if not offensive content towards various categories, very politically oriented, among other things without asking formal authorization for publication from superiors. Behavior that was damaging to “the prestige and reputation of the administration to which he belonged”.

But the former commander of the Folgore not only did not return to the ranks, so to speak, but did an encore with the second book, released in bookstores on March 12 and which was supposed to (as it turned out) act as a driving force for his electoral campaign. A volume that did not have the same editorial success as the World upside downbut still generous in recounting episodes regarding missions, relationships with other contingents in war zones, relations with diplomats and so on.

Internal army rules state that what you do on duty cannot be told to anyone. Unless you ask for specific authorization from your superiors, citing each single episode that you would like to make public.

Vannacci’s ‘recidivism’ could therefore cost him his stars. A decision that now falls to the superiors of the military judging commission.