Osaka consul recalled for Fascist rock concert
Diplomatic scion Mario Vattani to be reassigned after media flap
22 February, 18:44
Vattani, 45, will empty his desk in the Japanese city before being reassigned as a disciplinary measure, it said.
At a Rome performance in May Vattani was captured on video praising the Fascist "bandiera nera" (black flag) and raising his arm in a Fascist salute.
Vattani's rock group, Sotto Fascia Semplice (Under a Simple Fascist Banner), was playing at a rally organized by Casa Pound, a radical rightwing group.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi referred Vattani's case to a disciplinary commission when it appeared in the media in late December. He was then recalled to Rome as his superiors decided what to do with him.
"The situation is serious and we're moving ahead quickly," Foreign Undersecretary Staffan De Mistura said at the time. "We all feel shame and the young Mario Vattani should feel it as well. He was representing Italians and not his personal opinions".
Vattani comes from a line of Italian diplomats.
His father, Umberto Vattani, was the Italian ambassador to Belgium and Germany, an advisor to seven-time premier Giulio Andreotti, and secretary-general at the foreign ministry.
Vattani formed his rock band in 1996.
In 1989 he was accused and acquitted of beating two leftist young men outside parliament in Rome.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Guarda la foto1 di 1
(ANSA) - Tokyo, February 22 - Italy's Consul General in Osaka, Mario Vattani, has been definitively called back to Rome after hitting headlines as the leader of a Nazi-rock group, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
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