(see related) Northern League
leader Matteo Salvini said Monday that he was not guilty of the
offence of 'vilipendio' - offending the State institutions -
after insulting President Sergio Mattarella. "Being as (Premier
Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party) PD is reporting me for
offending the presidency, the first person to commit this crime
is Mr Mattarella, who has not come to have a walk around
L'Aquila," Salvini during a visit to the Abruzzo capital, which
was hit by an earthquake that killed over 300 people in 2009. "I
have broad shoulders. If someone wants to report me, I couldn't
care less. In my little way, I defend the rights and interests
of Italian citizens who are not powerful". He added that the
weakness of Italy under Premier Matteo Renzi and Mattarella was
shown by the diplomatic problems linked to the case of Italian
researcher Guilio Regeni who was killed in Cairo and of two
Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen during
an anti-piracy mission in 2012: "we are amazed that Egypt makes
fun of us if a lad dies and they tell us it was accident, but
the marines have been on trial in India for four years.
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