David Duke
Former KKK leader David Duke has been expelled from Italy (Reuters)

David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, was expelled from Italy after authorities deemed him as "socially dangerous" for he allegedly planned to set up a pan-European neo-Nazi group.

A Venice court has upheld a decision to deny a permit of residence renewal to the former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representative and holocaust denier, who was found living under false pretences near the northern town of Belluno.

"Official reliable sources have revealed [Duke] plans to establish an organisation aiming to exterminate the black and Jewish races in Europe," the sentence read.

"He was also previously arrested and expelled from the Czech Republic as suspected of promoting the launch of a movement for the suppression of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

Duke was initially banned from Switzerland over his activities related to the white supremacist movement in 2009.

Swiss authorities also designated him as persona non grata in all the European states part of the Schengen treaty, including Italy.

Nevertheless Duke allegedly dodged the ban and entered Italy on a study visa in 2011, using his second name, Ernest.

In 2012 Belluno authorities recognised the mistake and kicked him out.

"We consider him as a highly dangerous individual due to his infamous racist theories," Belluno deputy police commissioner Luciano Meneghetti told IBTimes UK.

Duke, who served as Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s, appealed against the decision, which was however upheld by Venice administrative court.

Meneghetti said Duke was conducting some unspecified researches in the mountainous Cadore valley in the Alps.

Duke's Italian lawyer, Filippo Augusto told IBTimes UK his client was evaluating whether to lodge a further appeal. Augusto said Duke had left Italy but was not sure of his whereabouts.

After a series of unsuccessful political bids in the early 1990s - Duke run for the US Senate, for governor of Louisiana and also as Republican Party presidential candidate in the 1992 primaries - the self-styled "racial realist" turned writer and penned several controversial books, which were bashed as anti-Semite and bigot by rights groups.

The Anti-Defamation League described him as "America's most well-known racist and anti-Semite".

In 2012 Duke claimed thousands Tea Party activists urged him to run for president.

Human rights Italy