Police in northern Italy have arrested a far-left extremist in connection with the bombing of an office belonging to the League party of populist Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini.
The arrest comes after a long and in-depth investigation by the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office of Venice which determined the identity of the suspect who is believed to be close to the far-left anarchist scene, Il Giornale reports.
The suspect has been named in Italian media as Spanish anarchist Juan Antonio Sorroche Fernandez, 42, who had been on the run from Italian authorities since 2017 for previous offences.
The bombing occurred in August last year and saw one bomb exploding just steps away from the office in the city of Treviso near Venice.
Another nearby device, which was later disarmed, was rigged in order to be tripped by police or other emergency services workers responding to the first device. The detonation of the second bomb would likely have resulted in severe injury or death as it was reported to have contained nails and other fragments of metal.
A group, known as the “Santiago Maldonado Cell”, took credit for the attack soon after it occurred stating: “Direct action makes us clear as to why and how. For an internationalist, rebellious, anarchist solidarity! For a world without borders or authority!” The group had also taken credit for a previous bombing at a police station in Rome.
The arrest is just part of a series of recent attacks attempted or allegedly committed by violent, far-left extremists across Europe.
Earlier this year in Sweden, a far-left extremist was charged with stockpiling illegal firearms, police uniforms, and other material with prosecutor Petra Schöniger commenting: “The investigation shows that the operational weapon of the AR-15 type has been assembled and completed inside the container and that it has subsequently been fired.
“Other parts of the same rifle type found could have been assembled into four fully operational weapons.”
In Germany, several other arrests of far-left extremists have been made in recent years including a man in Thuringia last year who was accused of having his own mobile bomb factory.
Earlier this year in Döbeln, an office of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was also bombed with the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) stating they believed the attack to be politically motivated.
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