Mussolini’s granddaughter appeals ouster

MILAN, Italy – Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Italy’s Fascist dictator, on Saturday appealed a court decision blocking her from running in a regional election next month.

Mussolini, a deputy in the European Parliament, was prohibited from running in the Lazio region’s April 3-4 ballot because of hundreds of alleged fake voter signatures on the list of her party, the right-wing Social Alternative.

Mussolini went on a five-day hunger strike – one that included a daily allowance of three cappuccinos – to protest the lower court ruling, which was upheld Friday by an appeals court in Rome.

She announced Saturday that she had filed an appeal in the nation’s top administrative court, according to news wire reports.

Mussolini, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, has accused right-wing incumbent Francesco Storace, of the National Alliance party, of instigating the investigation that led to her exclusion by obtaining a copy of her party lists and using hackers to break into Italy’s register of births, marriages and deaths to compare the names.

Mussolini’s case has sparked investigations into possible false signatures on party lists across the country before elections to pick governors in 14 of Italy’s 20 regions.