Gentiloni appeals agst violence (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, February 22 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni on Thursday appealed against extremist political violence marring the March 4 general-election campaign after a string of recent incidents.
    There could be "no justification", he said, for the "recurrence of acts of violence against police or political adversaries".
    Gentiloni said there was "a risk of a copycat effect" after the recent episodes.
    "Here, too, the response of the government is very clear and the response of the Democratic Party (PD) is also very clear.
    "Extremist violence against police or political adversaries is against our Constitutional and republican values".
    Gentiloni added that recent electoral street violence was by "tiny minorities" and there was "no risk" of a return to the street battles of the 1970s. "There is no design behind it..and I think we are perfectly able to prevent these very serious episodes being contagious, becoming widespread," he said. Stressing that the government would be "vigilant", he said the interior ministry and the secret services would be "very attentive because it's clear that the election campaign is a bit of a trigger".