A
Slovak street performer dressed in white papal vestments has been
detained and fined by the police in Rome for bearing too close a
resemblance to the late John Paul II, the police said on Friday.
“The
problem was that he looked a lot like Karol Wojtyla. He was detained
for usurpation of title which is a misdemeanour,” a police spokeswoman
said..
“The cassock he was wearing has been confiscated,” she added.
The
man has been released and will have to pay between 154 and 929 euros
($200 and $1,200), depending on a decision by a judge, the spokeswoman
said.
Another officer at the station where the
55-year-old man was taken quipped: “If he had been dressed like
Tutankhamun nothing would have happened.”
The
performer has been working the main avenue leading up to the Colosseum
in his white skullcap for weeks — alongside Roman centurion imitators
and other performers — but police said they acted following an anonymous
complaint.
A vendor selling miniature Colosseum
souvenirs on a spot overlooking the Roman Forum said he saw the man
being detained on Thursday.
“He was right here, near me. He was taken away by two officers in civilian clothes who were pretending to be tourists,” he said.
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fan surprised the Ghanian actress by sending a beautiful flower bouquet
all the way from Italy to Ghana. Yvonne was super excited and had to
tweet "OMG from italy....speechless"' See the romantic flower below...
