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TEHRAN, Jun 1 - The mastermind behind a would-be "gladiator school" for populists set up in a 13th-century Italian monastery vowed Saturday to fight Italy's culture ministry in court over attempts to evict it.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The ministry said Friday it had begun proceedings to oust the school from the sprawling Certosa di Trisulti former monastery near Rome in a blow to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon who pledged to help finance the project.
Students from across the globe had been readying to learn how to "defend the West" at the far-right political boot camp run by the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI), founded by Benjamin Harnwell, Trump's close associate in Europe.
"While the ministry has announced it is initiating proceedings to revoke the lease, the DHI will contest this illegitimate manoeuvre with every resource at its disposal no matter how many years it takes," Harnwell told AFP Saturday.
"And we will win," he said.
The ministry said it had been advised by the state's attorney general there were "all the necessary conditions" for eviction.
Under the previous government, the ministry had awarded custody of the site to the institute for 19 years in February 2018.
But the institute did not have the statutory status, or required experience in managing a historical site, to participate in the government tender, and had not been paying for the site's upkeep since moving in, the ministry now claims.
"I hate those who cheat to get an advantage over others," Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said Friday, adding that the institute had "got one better over those who had the necessary requisites to be awarded the concession in their place".
Source: AFP
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