"Pardon for Roggero. Amen." This is the caption accompanying a new artificial intelligence-generated video by Roberto Vannacci, published on Instagram, depicting the general going to request — and obtain — a pardon from President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella for the jeweller convicted of double murder following a robbery.
The video comes the day after the Meloni-Schlein pact on banning deepfakes during election campaigns, aimed at preventing political debate from being tainted by AI-generated videos. It follows, by just a few days, another AI-produced video set in ancient Rome, in which Vannacci is invested as a military commander by Meloni while opposition leaders are executed in the arena.
In the video for Mario Roggero, linked to a petition for his pardon, the Futuro Nazionale leader is once again portrayed as a commander of Ancient Rome, and walks towards a figure seated on a throne bearing the likeness of the Head of State, to whom he hands a parchment scroll.
The footage concludes with Vannacci removing the handcuffs from the Grinzane Cavour jeweller and escorting him out of prison, where a crowd of people applaud, including his wife — whom he embraces — and daughters. Other figures also appear in the video, among them Futuro Nazionale MP Rossano Sasso.
Futuro Nazionale set up a stand in Milan this very morning to collect signatures for a proposed law seeking to broaden the scope of self-defence legislation, following Roggero's conviction.