Couple brick up home to avoid eviction

(ANSA) - Comiso (Ragusa), October 31 - A man and woman in Sicily remained walled inside their home and rigged to gas tanks to avoid eviction Friday. The married couple hired a bricklayer to lay mortar and brick all the way up their front door Thursday night to prevent the scheduled court eviction Friday morning. The home of spouses Pina and Paolo Iacono, located near the town of Comiso in southern Sicily, had been auctioned off for 30,000 euros - roughly one fifth of the market value of similar sized apartments in the area.
    The couple in recent months had attempted without success to negotiate to repurchase their residence from the local woman who had made the winning bid.
    Protesters belonging to the Farmers' Movement and the Pitchfork Movement, a loose collection of anti-austerity and anti-euro activists, are supporting the couple with a demonstration in front of the apartment building.
    The two groups had succeeded in May to win a delay in the eviction.
    The Iaconos' farm is also up for auction - at a price of 8,600 euros, which is also far less than its market value.