The M5S deputy Dario Carotenuto and the Fatto Quotidiano journalist Alessandro Mantovani, who were on board one of the Flotilla ships intercepted by the Israelis, have returned to Italy. They disembarked at Fiumicino airport from a scheduled flight from Athens, welcomed, among others, with hugs by the deputies Arturo Scotto (Pd) and the M5S, Arnaldo Lomuti, Francesco Silvestri, Andrea Quartini, Alessandra Maiorino and Valentina Dorso. Also present were Mantovani’s mother, Maria Gabriella, the deputy director of Fatto Quotidiano, Maddalena Oliva, and the activist Tony La Piccirella.
«I took the beatings, Dario Carotenuto took the beatings, others took more beatings than us. I have seen people with suspected fractures of the arms and ribs. Almost everyone who passed through the entry container was beaten and we could hear shouting from outside. Even the boardings were much more violent than in the past.” This is the testimony of Il Fatto journalist Alessandro Mantovani in an audio published on the newspaper’s website. Mantovani says that he and Carotenuto were also put in handcuffs and ankle chains after being in the cell and before being taken to Ben Gurion airport.
Carotenuto: “Beaten by three thugs”
“They beat us and told us ‘Welcome to Israel’: M5S deputy Dario Carotenuto said it in Fiumicino, his eyes shining and moved. “It’s all horrible – he said – We were savagely beaten by three thugs. I was punched in the eye and kicked. At a certain point I felt like I couldn’t see anymore”.