Marco Dimitri

Marco Dimitri
Born	1963 Bologna, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Known for	President of Italian neo-pagan group "Bambini di Satana"
Religion	Neopagan

Marco Dimitri (born in 1963) is the president of the neo-pagan cultural association "Bambini di Satana" (BdS – "Children of Satan"). In 1996 he was accused of raping a two-year old boy and a teenage girl in Satanic rituals,^[1] a case which sparked intense media attention. After 14 months in prison he was exonerated of all charges.^[1]

Born in Bologna, Italy, Dimitri became an orphan at the age of 14. Living in the streets he remained however in school until graduation. His interest in Satanist culture was seeded when he served his military service. In 1982 he became president of the cultural organization "Bambini di Satana," a group with more than 1,000 members.^[1] He became known nationally when he participated in talk shows and various other programs. Dimitri expressed acrid criticism against the official Catholic culture in interviews with several newspapers, including Famiglia Cristiana. He was investigated on several occasions, but he was repeatedly acquitted. His views also ended up on CNN, the BBC, in the Australian ABC News, and in Japanese books. The BBC even labeled him "the most famous Satanist in Europe."

Opinions

Dimitri refutes any notion that his group are Satan worshippers, because "the cult of the Devil would be the cult of evil – but for us, good and evil are subjective to each individual." Satan, he asserts, is not about worshiping evil, rather it is a symbol of being an adversary, standing up to a repressive system. It is the church that is "repressive and forces man on his knees with laws that haven’t been created by Christ but by man to enrich man."^[1]

Court cases

In 1996 Dimitri together with fellow group members Piergiorgio Bonora and Gennaro Luongo were arrested with the charges of rape and fined for sexual assault, to which was later added violence against minors, violation of a tomb and desecration of a corpse. He rejected these allegations vigorously for the period of more than a year when he was in police custody, proclaiming his innocence. In 1997 the Court ruled that these incidents had never happened and acquitted Dimitri. Released from prison he continued his activities supported not only by Satanists but also by counterculturalists like the Luther Blissett Project^[2] as well as some writers and journalists. In 2001 the case was appealed by public prosecutor Lucia Musti, who had led the unsuccessful prosecution in 1996. Dimitri was again acquitted, again due to lack of supporting evidence. In 2005 he was awarded compensation for unjust detention with the sum of 100,000 euros.

Countercultural activism

Dimitri continues to participate in television programs as well as doing interviews. Dimitri has also created a web site with news and countercultural information. He collaborated with journalist Antonella Beccaria to write a book about his experiences with the 1996 case. The book, published by Stampa Alternativa publishing house under the title Bambini di Satana – processo al diavolo i reati mai commessi di Marco Dimitri (process against the devil of crimes never committed by Marco Dimitri), and with a preface by crime-writer Carlo Lucarelli, the book is licenced as copyleft and distributed free on the Internet. Marco Dimitri is intent that the abuse must be uncovered and pursued.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Hutcheon, Jane (January 11, 2005). "Italy - Between the Devil & the Holy See". ABC News (Australia). http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2005/s1496896.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
2. ^ "What Is The Musti Affair?". Luther Blissett Project. December 23, 2001. http://www.lutherblissett.net/archive/486_en.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 

External links

• Bambini di Satana Official website
• The sect's atrocities? Nothing happened Bologna, the "Children of Satan" acquitted in the 2nd degree trial. Now Dimitri claims for damages.. Luther Blissett Project, January 28, 2000
• Video of an interview with Marco Dimitri on youTube
• Interrogation of Marco Dimitri on June 10, 1996
• The book Bambini di Satana by Antonella Beccaria (pdf)

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Italian Wikipedia.