ITALIAN PRIME minister Silvio Berlusconi was assaulted and injured minutes after addressing a public meeting of his People of Freedom (PDL) party in Milan yesterday.
As he was leaving the meeting, held in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, Mr Berlusconi stopped to sign autographs.
It was at this point that 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, a man who has been receiving treatment for the last 10 years for mental problems, managed to break through the prime minister’s security detail.
Mr Tartaglia hit Mr Berlusconi in the mouth with a statuette, which cut the prime minister’s upper lip, damaging two teeth.
Mr Tartaglia was arrested immediately and held overnight in police custody awaiting charges.
TV images of the incident were far from clear, given that in the confusion of a crowded square it was impossible to see just how Mr Tartaglia managed to get past Mr Berlusconi’s security detail.
An initial medical bulletin from Milan’s San Raffaele hospital said that the prime minister would remain “under observation” for 24 hours in hospital whilst government sources had earlier stated Mr Berlusconi was “fine”.
Inevitably, the incident prompted a strong reaction from Mr Berlusconi’s centre-right supporters with arts minister Sandro Bondi saying it was “the fruit of a long campaign of hate inspired by precise political and media forces”.