«I am a victim of fake news». This is how we can definitively summarize the press release with which Michele Patano (Mediterranean Taranto) puts an end to the controversies that have flared up, even at a national level, after his alleged involvement in intimate attitudes during a remote connection of the work of a council commission. Which he denies and denies.
«In the last few days, I have been linked – Patano himself recalls – to an episode that allegedly occurred during a Productive Activities commission in which I participated, like other city councillors, remotely. I have a clear conscience – assures the city councilor – but I intervene only to defend my honor and my reputation, as well as out of respect for the hundreds of citizens who elected me two years ago”.
Furthermore, Patano makes it known that even before responding to accusations that he defines as “slanderous”, he confronted the president of the Productive Activities commission that was managing the meeting, who last Tuesday specified in minutes that “nothing of what was published from social media and the press corresponds to the truth, given that during the aforementioned session no anomaly occurred nor were any voices heard – as reported verbatim from the press note – attributable to obscene acts”.
The city councilor also adds that the competent authorities will verify “whether the law on defamation in the press which protects the integrity and reputation of people has been violated”.
Possible future initiatives involving stamped papers aside, councilor Patano bitterly underlines that «my behavior marked by kindness, availability and sincerity towards others has unfortunately given rise to misunderstandings in the political context in which I find myself operating. In recent years, this approach to life – he underlines – has exposed me to undeserved criticism and attacks from individuals without scruples or moral and political ethics.”
And again, the representative of Mediterranean Taranto also recalls the arson, theft and sabotage attempts «against my place of work during the electoral periods. These are actions that have demonstrated, if any were needed, that, for some, I am – he goes so far as to say – an “inconvenient” figure. But – assures the city councilor – the attempt of those who, with cynicism, are trying to discredit me for political reasons will not be successful”. For Patano, the only result that these attacks are producing is to further weaken the trust that voters have in politics.
«Finally, I am convinced that the false news recently spread, the infamous fake news, only serve – concludes Patano – to divert attention from much more serious and noteworthy issues».
