(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 5 - A row has erupted in Italy over an
allegedly neofascist tattoo on the arm of the new Bologna chief
of the rightwing League party, Cristiano Di Martino.
The tattoo is a runic symbol used by the SS and banned in
Germany, a wolf's tooth under a first holding a hammer.
It was a symbol of the subversive neo-fascist group Terza
Posizione (Third Position), active in Italy in the Years of Lead
of leftwing and rightwing terror in the 1970s and '80s.
Di Martino told the Corriere di Bologna newspaper that "I have
never been part of that group, a I had that tattoo done when I
was a young lad because I've always liked Norse mythology.
"When I had it done, at the age of 16, I didn't even know what
Terza Posizione was" he said, adding about the first holding the
hammer that "I've always been a fan of comics, and I like Thor".
He went on: "there are secretaries around with the (neofascist)
Celtic Cross and I must be crucified for a tattoo done in 1986?
"Sometimes in your youth you do things that perhaps might have
been done differently over the course of the years, but I've
never had anything to do with certain worlds".
Roman-born Di Martino has been in Emilia-Romagna since 2010 and
was once a provincial councillor for the now defunct
centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party of Silvio Berlusconi
in Ferrara.
In that capacity, in 2011, he took part in an event promoted by
far right group CasaPound alongside Gabriele Adinolfi, a
founding member of Terza Posizione.
Another former Terza Posizione member, Luigi Ciavardini, was
among the neofascist terrorists found guilty for the August 2,
1980 Bologna train station bombing that left 85 dead and 200
wounded.
The head of the association of victims relatives for that
massacre, Paolo Bolognesi, said Wednesday "he (Di Martino) could
have it removed, it is not a nice thing for Bologna. I'm amazed,
let's hope it's not a sign of a time in which all kinds of
things can be legitimized".
He added: "Anyone engaged in politics should know what Terza
Posizione is, and what its symbols are. It's not a nice
gesture". (ANSA).
Row over 'neofascist' tattoo on League Bologna chief
'Dome when I was 16, I like Norse mythology' says Di Martimo