Lombardy Executive Councillor for
Security Romano La Russa is under fire after he apparently
joined other mourners making a straight-armed fascist salute at
the funeral of his brother-in-law.
A video of the incident went viral online and sparked calls for
Lombardy Governor Attilo Fontana and La Russa's party, Giorgia
Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) group, to reprimand
him.
La Russa, the younger brother of former defence minister and FdI
bigwig Ignazio La Russa, said it was not a fascist salute but
part of another ritual.
"We call on La Russa to publicly disassociate himself (from what
happened)," said Fabio Pizzul, the caucus head for the
centre-left Democratic Party in the Lombardy regional assembly.
"This is a very serious deed, not something worthy of a
democratic institution like the Lombardy Region".
Nicola Di Marco, the Lombardy caucus chief of the 5-Star
Movement (M5S), said what had happened was "unacceptable".
"Giorgia Meloni and Brothers of Italy are duty-bound to
intervene immediately as La Russa represents the regional
executive and, as a result, Lombardy," Di Marco said.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
