Crackdown on Far-Right Extremist Group 'Order of Hagal'

Five individuals, belonging to the far-right extremist group 'Order of Hagal', which has been the focus of an investigation by the Naples prosecutor's office since 2019, have been subjected to special surveillance measures and residency requirements in their municipalities, issued by the Naples court's preventive measures section, for periods ranging from three years to three and a half years. The criminal group, which had its operational base in San Nicola la Strada but was mainly active in the province of Naples, was decapitated by a blitz carried out in November 2022 with the arrest of its leaders. According to the investigations, the 'Order of Hagal' was a neonazi, supremacist, and denialist terrorist association whose members, on Telegram, declared themselves ready for military action with weapons and explosives against a Carabinieri barracks in the province of Naples and also against civilian targets, such as a shopping center. The association aimed to promote a 'new world order', inspired by the writings of Nazi leader Goebbels. Some members, according to the investigations, had moved abroad to train in hand-to-hand combat and the use of weapons. The restrictive measures concern four Italians and one Ukrainian - untraceable and considered a fugitive - issued upon request by the Naples Police Department from the preventive measures section of the Naples Court against the same number of members of the far-right extremist group 'Order of Hagal'. The recipients of the measures are Maurizio Ammendola, 44, president of the association under investigation; Michele Rinaldi (48), vice president; Massimiliano Mariano (47), who was responsible for indoctrination; Gianpiero Testa (26), who was engaged in recruiting proselytes and organizing excursions and meetings; and the Ukrainian from Thermopylae, Anton Radomsky (27), a fugitive. No measure, finally, was taken against another Italian suspect, whose situation was considered less severe. Only for Mariano was a three-year restraining order issued, while for the others the duration of the measure ordered by the judge is three and a half years. The investigations by the Digos coordinated by the Naples Prosecutor's Office already in November 2022 highlighted the dangerousness of the suspects. Radomsky, already untraceable at the time of the precautionary measures by the investigating judge Federica de Bellis, was reported to be in Ukraine and in contact with the Azov battalion, a militia engaged in facing the Russian invasion.