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Animal rights activists in Italy have filed a complaint\u00a0with prosecutors\u00a0against Italian MEP and former army general Roberto Vannacci over a video in which the politician holds a fish.<\/p>\n
The video at the centre of the controversy was filmed in the sea off Costa Rei, in southeastern Sardinia, where the deputy secretary of\u00a0the right-wing Lega party was on vacation during Italy’s Ferragosto holiday weekend.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
BUON FERRAGOSTO A TUTTI….e godetevi la faccia della sinistra alle prossime elezioni. pic.twitter.com\/ieIMaDuM92<\/a>\u2014 Roberto Vannacci (@RoVannacci) August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The provocative\u00a0video\u00a0did not go down well with animal rights activists, who alleged that the fish was eaten the following evening, news agency ANSA reports.<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n