Members of Bologna's leftwing
collectives on Thursday hung a mannequin of Premier Giorgia
Meloni upside down in the centre of the Emilian capital
recalling the way the bodies of Mussolini, his lover and several
Fascist high-ups were displayed in a Milan square after the
desecration of their remains in 1945.
The mannequin of Italy's first woman premier, dressed in
military garb, was strung up by the feet below Bologna's iconic
Two Towers during a march against the cost of living crisis and
in favour of "the good life", involving some 200 people.
The act was widely condemned on Friday on all sides of the
political spectrum with Simona Malpezzi, Senate caucus leader
for the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, saying "what
happened in Bologna yesterday is very serious....We strongly
condemn all intimidatory and violent acts of hate, solidarity
with the premier".
But Communist Refoundation bigwig Giovanni Barbera said "those
who sow the wind reap the storm. I'm sorry to say that this
mannequin is the fruit of the climate that has been dangerously
fuelled by the new rightwing government with its ill-judged
choices and the statements of its inadequate ministers,"
referring among other things to crackdowns on raves and
migrants.
Farm Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, Meloni's brother-in-law
and nephew of the screen diva Gina, said "people who use this
verbal and symbolic violence should be stopped from operating
with this method, which is dangerous not only for the right but
for all citizens".
Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was strung up by the feet in a
Milan square after being shot by partisans in 1945.
The bodies of Mussolini and his lover Claretta Petacci were left
in a suburban square, the Piazzale Loreto, for a large angry
crowd to insult and physically abuse. Mussolini's face was
badly disfigured and spat and urinated on. They bodies were then
hung upside down from a metal girder above a service station on
the square, along with the bodies of other Fascist bigwigs.
The choice of location was deliberate. Fifteen partisans had
been shot there in August 1944 in retaliation for partisan
attacks and Allied bombing raids, and their bodies had then been
left on public display.
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