Regina Coeli Prison

Regina Coeli Prison is both the site of Amerigo Dùmini’s confinement after Giacomo Matteotti’s killing and a political reference point in the crisis that followed. Its apparent strictness is undercut by the comforts Dùmini receives and by the threat of imprisonment that Fascist militants later direct at Benito Mussolini himself.

Dùmini’s confinement

Held in Regina Coeli, Dùmini denies that Fascist leaders were involved and describes the killing as an unintended outcome of a struggle. Evidence found among his belongings connects him to the crime, but his account continues to shield the leadership. The prison thus becomes a place where the public investigation and the effort to contain political responsibility meet.

Privilege and silence

Dùmini is placed in the prison’s VI wing and enjoys unusual comforts. The National Fascist Party administration pays the expense claims he submits with his associates, including restaurant food, clothing, and stationery bearing both the party emblem and the heading of a supposed Fascist Arditi detachment at Regina Coeli. The details make the prison seem less like a break with the movement than an extension of its patronage.

At the end of July, a sworn statement by De Bono appears to challenge Dùmini’s account. Dùmini responds with letters to Aldo Finzi threatening to resist if he is deceived, then retracts the outburst and promises renewed loyalty. Regina Coeli is described as a prison without bars: his confinement does not break the pact with Mussolini.

A threat turned outward

Later, Aldo Tarabella warns Mussolini that he and his fellow militants will present themselves to Judge Occhiuto and accept confinement in Regina Coeli unless the imprisoned Fascists are released. His ultimatum makes the prison a measure of political allegiance: either the militants and Mussolini face prison together, or they are all freed. The location’s significance therefore extends beyond Dùmini’s detention; it becomes the setting invoked in a direct challenge to the government’s handling of the crisis.