The Italian authorities have decided to raise the levels of vigilance for an Italian cartoonist from the province of Arezzo, author of one of the images published in the Charlie Hebdo issue dedicated to Khamenei which has unleashed the wrath of Tehran.
Paolo Lombardi, 59, a former worker, now retired, is one of the 35 winners of the competition organized by the French publication and one of his cartoons was published in the issue dedicated to the Iranian regime , depicting a woman urinating on the image of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The drawing was featured on the front page of the special issue commemorating the anniversary of the 2015 bombing of the Paris newsroom and targeting the repressions of the Tehran regime.
«This cartoon - explains Lombardi - is the result of my indignation at what is happening in Iran. I consider freedom of expression fundamental. Almost all the designers are Iranian and they risk more than me. I have an Iranian friend who I no longer hear from.' In the past, he adds «I had another job but I've been drawing all my life. I have often been attacked before, for example for cartoons about Erdogan. But I go on because through satire I am convinced that I am also defending freedom».
The designer from Arezzo in these days would have received social threats and for this reason he is under the special attention of the police due to the plausible risk of reckless actions. In the coming days , the prefecture of Arezzo will decide whether to adopt even more targeted measures .
Lombardi already has a track record recognized in French newspapers having published cartoons for Le Monde and Le Figaro. In 2008 his first cartoon on Stern was printed, then contracts arrived with some Dutch newspapers, with the Turkish press and with a French agency which paved the way for him before the two newspapers beyond the Alps. Lombardi has also drawn cartoons on Matteo Renzi, Giorgia Meloni, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many other exponents of international politics.
(Unioneonline/D)
