Italy's opera house snubs Saudi cash amid human rights concerns
Italy’s prestigious opera house, La Scala, has rejected an offer from Saudi Arabia to pump funds into the theater after the proposal sparked criticism from human rights groups and some politicians.
The Saudi culture ministry had offered a five-year partnership deal with La Scala worth 15 million euros ($17 million). The deal would have allowed the kingdom’s culture minister a seat on the board.
Milan’s La Scala opera board put the Saudi proposal up for discussion on Monday and said afterwards that it had decided to return 3.1 million euros (2.5 million pounds) -- the first tranche of the money that was to be provided by Riyadh.
“We have unanimously decided to return the money,” the opera house’s president, Giuseppe Sala, who is also the mayor of Milan, said after the board meeting. “Right now, going down this road is not possible.”
He said the funds had been deposited into an escrow account without the theater’s consent.
Earlier in March, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini urged the opera house to shun the offer from Saudi Arabia, saying he did not want the partnership to go ahead.
“I would prefer for some people not to be there and for La Scala to be free, independent and autonomous. If the Swiss want to invest in La Scala, we would not have a problem,” said Salvini, who heads the far-right League party.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record at home and abroad has been in the spotlight after the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
The killing is widely believed to have been ordered by the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia is also facing global criticism over its devastating war against Yemen as well as its campaign of threats and arrests of human rights activists, especially women, inside the kingdom.
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