'Indignation' at ECRI report on police 'racism' - Tajani (3)

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 23 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday that he has tasked Italy's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Roberto Martini, with expressing the Italian government's deep indignation after the council's independent human rights monitoring body accusing Italian police of racial profiling in a report.
    "I do not agree with a word of what has been written," Tajani said.
    "There is no racism in Italian law enforcement.
    "We must respect those who serve the country, working day and night for the security of everyone".
    Premier Giorgia Meloni and several of her ministers on Tuesday blasted the report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which accused Italian police of the racial profiling of Roma and African people.
    President Sergio Mattarella also intervened, telephoning the Chief of Police, prefect Vittorio Pisani, to express his astonishment. (ANSA).