Activists file complaint over “shameful” video.
Animal rights activists in Italy have filed a complaint with prosecutors against Italian MEP and former army general Roberto Vannacci over a video in which the politician holds a fish.
The video at the centre of the controversy was filmed in the sea off Costa Rei, in southeastern Sardinia, where the deputy secretary of the right-wing Lega party was on vacation during Italy’s Ferragosto holiday weekend.
In the viral footage posted on his social media pages, Vannacci raises up the large grouper fish out of the water and says: “This is me and the face of the left in the next elections.”
BUON FERRAGOSTO A TUTTI….e godetevi la faccia della sinistra alle prossime elezioni. pic.twitter.com/ieIMaDuM92— Roberto Vannacci (@RoVannacci) August 15, 2025
The provocative video did not go down well with animal rights activists, who alleged that the fish was eaten the following evening, news agency ANSA reports.
The Italian Association for the Defence of Animals and the Environment (AIDA&A) announced on Tuesday that it has filed a complaint with the Cagliari prosecutor’s office “requesting an investigation for the crime of animal abuse pursuant to Article 544 of the Criminal Code.”
“The video shows clear disregard for animals, particularly that poor grouper, shamefully and improperly used for purposes that have nothing to do with nature”, the activists stated.
Demanding a “formal and public apology” from Vannacci, AIDA&A warned that the “serious and unacceptable act” risked being imitated by others, “given that the former general is not just anyone”.
