Mohamed Shahin, an Egyptian imam who heads a Muslim community in Turin, Italy, was ordered freed from custody this week by a local court following his arrest last month for defending Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

The decision to release Shahin was met with anger from Italian Prime Giorgia Meloni, who blasted the court’s decision in a statement on Monday.

“We are talking about a person who described the October 7 attack as an act of ‘resistance,’ denying its violence. Where I come from, that means justifying — if not inciting — terrorism,” wrote Meloni.

“Can someone explain to me how we are supposed to defend the safety of Italians if every initiative aimed in that direction is systematically overturned by certain judges?”

According to the ANSA Italian news agency, Shahin was arrested in November and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi issued an order to have him deported from Italy due to his comments.

However, a court in Turin on Monday ruled in favor........

© The Times of Israel