Still Running Off at the Keyboard

After the recent expulsion of Bouchta Bouriqi - a halal butcher and self proclaimed imam from Turin - who was deported under new anti-terror legislation, introduced after the 7 July London bombings, Piccardo denounces an intimidation strategy by the Italian government towards the Muslim community. "Today no Muslim living in Italy has the courage to express out loud his views, because of the fear of being criminalised and eventually expelled, destroying an effort intensive immigration project."

If Bouriqi was guilty, a court should have tried him, argued Piccardo, thus allowing him to defend himself and giving the general public more details on his alleged wrongdoings.

This climate of intimidation and of unrecognised rights will feed terrorism, warned Piccardo.

Mainly Catholic Italy has only experienced mass immigration since the late 1980s, mainly from North Africa and Eastern Europe, but also from farther afield. The Muslim community in Italy is now estimated to number between one and one and a half million, making Islam the country's second largest religion.