Italian Journalist Beaten by Israeli Forces After Flotilla Ship Intercepted

ILLUSTRATION/Brahim Guedich via WIkimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Italian journalist Alessandro Mantovani said he was beaten and handcuffed by Israeli forces, after the ship he was traveling on was intercepted on a humanitarian mission by the Global Sumud Fleet to Gaza.

Mantovani, who is a daily journalist for Fatto Quotidiano and a member of the Five Star Movement (M5S) party parliamentarian Dario Carotenuto, has returned to Rome airport on a commercial flight from Athens.

"I was beaten, Dario Carotenuto was beaten, and others were beaten worse than us. I saw people who were allegedly broken in their arms and ribs," Mantovani told Fatto Quotidiano, Thursday, May 21, reported by ANTARA from Anadolu.

He said the inspection of the ship was much harder than before.

He and Carotenuto were handcuffed and shackled at the ankles after being held in a cell and before being transferred to Ben Gurion Airport.

"They took my pants, which contained my wallet, and never returned it. Then we were beaten, I also saw women being beaten. This happened because Israel is protected by the governments of half of Europe, including our own government," said Mantovani.

He later said Israeli forces fired twice during the raid, "with several types of bullets."

The Global Sumud humanitarian aid fleet said on Tuesday, May 19, all 50 ships in its convoy were intercepted by Israeli forces.

The fleet of ships carrying 428 people from 44 countries left last week from the Turkish district of Marmaris in a latest attempt to break through Israel's illegal blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007.