Scurati says he feels 'targetted' after Rai pulls monologue

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 22 - Italian writer Antonio Scurati has said that he feels targetted after a row with Premier Giorgia Meloni over a planned monologue critical of her and her right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party that State broadcaster Rai stopped him from delivering at the weekend.
    In the text of the monologue, Scurati described the "ruling party" as "post-Fascist" and said it was trying to re-write history rather than "repudiate its neo-fascist past".
    He was set to present it in view of Thursday's Liberation Day national holiday, when the country celebrates its liberation from Fascism and the Nazi occupation in World War II.
    Meloni criticized Scurati in a Facebook post, saying she would never ask for censorship as she had been "ostracized and censored" by the public service broadcaster in the past, and referring to Rai saying that it had simply refused to pay 1,800 euros for a one-minute of monologue.
    She also published the text of the monologue "so Italian people can freely judge its content".
    On Sunday Scurati said he had been subjected to a form of "violence" by the premier and felt afraid.
    "When the boss points the finger at the enemy and the newspapers put you on the front pages, they put a target on your face," he said.
    "Then there might be someone who takes aim at that target".
    Opposition parties criticised the decision to stop Scurati giving the monologue, saying was part of an effort to limit opposition voices and turn the State broadcaster into a "megaphone" for the government. (ANSA).