A political row has erupted after
conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) party leader Giorgia Meloni
posted a video of police stopping a 27-year-old Guinean asylum
seeker from raping a 55-year-old Ukrainian woman in the street
in the northern town of Piacenza.
Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Enrico Letta called the
video "indecent and indecorous".
The PD said "such dramatic news items should not be exploited".
Former anti-migrant interior minister Matteo Salvini said he
would visit Piacenza shortly to voice his support for the woman
and highlight allegedly rising crime by migrants.
National League party head Salvini is the chief ally of Meloni,
who is set to become Italy's first post-fascist and first woman
premier after the September 25 general election, according to
opinion polls.
Both the FdI and the League have voiced alarm over allegedly
higher crimes rates among immigrants and migrants.
Meloni has also railed against the "Islamization" of Europe.
She has announced a "naval blockade" if the centre right wins
power next month, a move of dubious legality.
When he was interior minister fromm 2018 to 2019 Salvini banned
NGO run migrant rescue ships from docking in Italy, a policy
that has seen him since face several criminal proceedings.
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