'Sardines' to hold national meeting in Scampia

(ANSA) - Rome, January 23 - A leading member of the 'Sardines', a grassroots movement that has sprung up around Italy in opposition to populist, anti-migrant policies such as those proposed by former interior minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini, said Thursday that the group will hold a national meeting in the Naples suburb of Scampia in March.
    Scampia has a reputation for being dogged by poverty, crime, drug-dealing and violence by the Camorra mafia.
    But Mattia Santori, one of the founders of the 'Sardines' movement, said Scampia was chosen for the March 14-15 event because this is a stereotype that needs busting.
    "Scampia is one of the many places that have been demonized by the media, but this does not fully reflect reality," said Santori.
    The Sardines sprang up in Bologna in mid-November as a spontaneous response to League leader Salvini's vow to "free" the Emilia-Romagna region of the centre-left politicians who have governed it for decades, in regional elections this week.
    Sardine rallies have since taken place across the length and breadth of Italy.
    The movement, which as ruled out becoming a political party, is to seek to plan its future at the meeting.