The Palermo provincial secretary
of the far-right Forza Nuova (FN) group was tied up and bloodily
beaten by persons wearing ski masks or with their heads wrapped
in scarves in Palermo's central Via Dante Tuesday night.
Tattoo salon owner Massimo Ursino was surrounded by a half
dozen people, tied hand and foot with duct tape and brutally
beaten, sources said.
Ursino suffered bruising to the face and the whole of his
body, a broken nose, and a suspected shoulder lesion, medical
sources said.
He was taken to the ER where doctors said his injuries would
heal in 20 days.
FN leader Roberto Fiore said "after a campaign of hatred sown
by the (newspaper) Espresso group and followed by all the left
including the Free and Equal (LeU) party, Communist hatred is
unleashed against Forza Nuova".
"A Forza Nuova official was struck at his workplace, tied up
and brutally beaten, in a cowardly way, in 10 against one".
The attack, which was condemned by all political parties, was
claimed by an unnamed lefist group which said it "repudiated
Fascism" and that Ursino had been given an "exemplary" beating a
few days ahead of a rally in Palermo by Fiore.
It said Italy was threatened by the "rise" of racist and
neo-Fascist groups.
photo: Fiore
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