Italian police have detained Youssef Siher, a 30-year-old Italian citizen of Moroccan origin, freelance journalist and academic, over his alleged role in coordinating an online network suspected of organising street unrest following the violent clashes in Milan on October 17 and 18.
Known for his pro-Palestinian activism, Siher previously worked as a research intern at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), a Milan-based foreign policy think tank, and served as president of the Muslim students’ association at the University of Milan, which he founded in 2018.
He was held late on October 24 on the orders of the Milan prosecutor’s office, on suspicion of administering the Telegram channel and Instagram account of the so-called Movement 17 October (Movimento 17 Ottobre). A hearing to validate the detention was listed for October 26.
Investigators suspect the platforms were used to capitalise on the October 17 violence by mobilising young people and coordinating acts of disorder and unauthorised demonstrations, including among youths from immigrant backgrounds and second-generation communities.
The Telegram group passed 10,000 members in under a week, according to Il Giorno. The detention decree described a project aimed at criminal acts “with subversive purposes”.
If convicted under Article 420-bis of the Italian Criminal Code, Siher could face four to 12 years in prison, the range set for anyone who organises or promotes such a group, including online. The offence was created days earlier, by a security decree the Italian Government approved on October 20, making him among the first people investigated under it.
Milan’s anti-terrorism prosecutors have also attached an aggravating circumstance of terrorist purpose, and the use of digital tools, to a charge of incitement to commit crimes. A separate terrorism-related charge could carry a sentence of up to 15 years, depending on the precise offence charged and the court’s findings.
The Movement 17 October takes its name from the date of violent disturbances reported in Milan and elsewhere in Italy on October 17. The online initiative reportedly emerged in the aftermath of the unrest, seeking to harness the anger and momentum generated by the street clashes.
In Milan, a demonstration on October 17 against the rising cost of living and low wages was followed by clashes in which demonstrators threw bottles and stones at police, overturned barriers and damaged property. The “Italia in piazza” protests, called online by a movement with no party or trade union affiliation, were held in 13 cities and drew about 5,000 people in Milan.
Through the night and into October 18, further disorder was reported around Piazza Duomo and Cordusio, where groups of youths smashed shop windows, looted shops and supermarkets and set fire to rubbish bins. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon.
About 60 people were detained, more than half of them minors, and 25 were injured, among them police officers. Young people from immigrant backgrounds and second-generation communities were reportedly widely represented among those involved in the disorder.
According to reports on the investigation, the Telegram channel and Instagram account attributed to Siher were used to circulate mobilisation messages, plans and meeting points ahead of a demonstration scheduled for October 24, intended to build on the October 17 protests.
Reports on the case have also referred to material allegedly shared through the online network, including a handbook circulated as “Rivoluzione, istruzioni per l’uso” (“Revolution, instructions for use”), presented in its own text as loosely inspired by a revolutionary manual associated with the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt, and messages invoking the possibility of replicating unrest seen in France.
Italy’s domestic intelligence service, the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna (AISI), reportedly monitored online activity connected to the mobilisation.
Investigative activity included searches in the Brescia area, where Siher lives. According to reports, information obtained from a phone belonging to his wife helped investigators locate him, at the home of a pro-Palestinian activist in Milan’s Corvetto district rather than at his own address.
Following his detention, Siher was taken into custody and transferred to Milan’s San Vittore prison. His wife, a cultural mediator, is under investigation for the same offences but has not been detained.
Siher’s detention has drawn attention in part because of his background in journalism and international affairs research. He studied Humanities for Communication at the University of Milan, where he also took a master’s degree in political science and government and sat on the academic senate, and served as president of the university’s Muslim students’ association.
In 2024, Siher undertook a research internship at ISPI’s Middle East and North Africa observatory, where his research interests focused on political Islam, Islamic political movements and the relationship between Islam and Arab nationalism. The institute has said he has not worked with it since that year.
He has also contributed to Il Fatto Quotidiano, one of Italy’s leading national newspapers, where he completed an internship in the online newsroom in 2022 and continued contributing articles until 2025. He also wrote for Il Foglio, an influential Italian newspaper known for its political commentary and analysis, publishing one article in 2022.
In recent years, Siher has become an increasingly visible figure in Milan’s pro-Palestinian movement, taking part in demonstrations and addressing protesters at rallies. He has been particularly active among the Young Palestinians of Italy, speaking out against Italy’s political and institutional ties with Israel and criticising Milan’s municipal twinning with Tel Aviv.
During a protest in July 2025, he accused Italian institutions, including local authorities, of complicity in what he described as the genocide in Gaza. He also drew attention online with his comments following pro-Palestinian protests at Milan’s Central Station in September 2025.
According to Italian media reports, Siher had previously come to the attention of AISI over alleged pro-Hamas propaganda activity. Investigators reportedly linked him to an organisation called Alba Nascente, suspected of circulating propaganda associated with Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) within Muslim communities in Europe.
This reported intelligence interest predates the current investigation into the Movement 17 October.
