Dumini’s Lies

Abstract

Dumini himself disproved the idea that he and his accomplices merely wanted to give Matteotti a “fascist lesson” that unintentionally ended in tragedy. He knew that the zeal he and his men exhibited when they abducted Matteotti made that version of events unconvincing. The attackers’ clear intention to abduct the victim differed from the typical dynamics of punitive “lessons” conducted by the Ceka in which their victim was clubbed then left bleeding on the asphalt as the attackers fled (as they did to Amendola, Misuri, and Cesare Forni). When, after four months of silence, Dumini finally gave his version of the facts—that the plan was in fact to kidnap Matteotti who then died unexpectedly from hemoptysis.