It was business as usual for
Gemma Amprino, mayor of the Piedmont town of Susa in
northwestern Italy, on Thursday after a parcel containing a
bullet and written threats was mailed to her by opponents of a
controversial high-speed rail (TAV) link between Turin and Lyon
in France that is due to pass through the area.
"The best response to what happened is to live as if these
things did not exist," said Amprino, whose pro-TAV position is
well known.
"The only way to give voice to democracy is to keep going,"
she added.
The threat letter, which was also mailed to the local
councillor responsible for transport, Salvatore Panaro, came at
the start of the campaign for administrative elections on May 25
in which positions for and against the Turin-Lyon rail link are
expected to feature prominently.
Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi, Piedmont regional
president Roberto Cota and Turin provincial president Antonio
Saitta all expressed their solidarity with Amprino and Panaro
over the incident.
Originating as a spontaneous grass-roots movement centred
on Val de Susa in the 1990s, the No-TAV movement now has
national and international visibility, organising largely
peaceful demonstrations and other acts of protest up and down
the country.
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