Marcello De Angelis, the communications chief of the Lazio region, made the remarks days after Italy marked the 43rd anniversary of the bombing of Bologna railway station, in which 85 people were killed and more than 200 were injured.
Five members of the now defunct Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari neofascist militant group were convicted of the attack on 2 August 1980. However, writing on social media, De Angelis said three - Giusva Fioravanti, Francesca Mambro and Luigi Ciavardini - had "nothing to do with the Bologna massacre".
The attack was the worst to take place during the social and political turmoil in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s that are known as the "years of lead".
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