The rightwing populist Northern League will hold a rally in Verona April 25 to urge parliament to speed passage of a bill expanding the right to self defence against criminals, League leader Matteo Salvini said Monday amid a debate over a restaurateur probed for voluntary manslaughter after shooting a burglar near Lodi. "I hope no one finds himself faced with someone masked and armed," Salvini said, "but parliament has been holding up a bill on boosting self-defence rights for four years." He said "on April 25 we will be in Verona to rally decent Italians who don't want to be gunmen but expect to be able to defend themselves if attacked. A country is free if is can defend itself. My model is not the US but the Swiss". photo: Salvini with Mario Cattaneo, the 67-year-old restaurateur-tobacconist who shot dead a Romanian burglar in the back after a struggle last week
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