Physical contact between police and
protesters aged under 18 during demonstrations is always a
defeat said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Thursday
during a briefing to parliament on the violence used by police
against young pro-Palestine demonstrators in Pisa and Florence
last Friday.
"I was also disturbed by the images of the clashes in Pisa that
circulated in the media," Piantedosi told lawmakers in the Lower
House.
"We are open to full analysis and self-criticism when even one
demonstration, or a single moment of one demonstration, among
the thousands held every year, requires more in-depth
examination," he added.
"We all hope that public demonstrations take place peacefully
and without incidents, and when physical contact is made with
minors it is in any case a defeat and it is even more necessary
to carry out all checks in a timely, objective and transparent
fashion," said Piantedosi.
In Pisa five young protesters were hospitalised with injuries
sustained during clashes with police in an episode that sparked
a public outcry in Italy and elicited a reprimand from President
Sergio Mattarella.
However, Piantedosi also reiterated the right of members of the
police force "not to be subjected to summary trials".
"They are workers who deserve the utmost respect!," he insisted.
"The management of public order is a daily commitment, delicate
and not without risk, carried out with the utmost dedication by
the women and men in uniform," he continued, "firmly" rejecting
"any attempt to involve the work of the police force in
political polemics".
Piantedosi also said the police headquarters in Pisa had not
been formally notified of the demonstration, "in total violation
of the law".
"Having learned about the event, they tried several times
without success to contact the organisers to obtain information
on the kind of initiative that would be held and its route, in
order to provide suitable public order services," he added.
The police baton-charged the protesters "to ensure their own
safety", continued Piantedosi, explaining that they had found
themselves "pressed up against a vehicle behind them" and needed
to "advance a few metres and thus ease the pressure from the
demonstrators".
Previously, he said the officers had held the position "using
only their riot shields, despite the fact that the protesters
continued to put pressure on them with thrusts, kicks, insults,
spitting and attempts to grab their shields".
Piantedosi told parliament that since the October 7 attacks by
Hamas against Israel that sparked the Gaza war, "a broad and
variegated pro-Palestinian mobilization has developed throughout
Italy, in many cases promoted by associations that can be traced
to the antagonist area or in which a significant participation
by activists from this area has been noted".
He also pointed up a "climate of growing aggressiveness towards
the forces of law and order ... in order to increase the level
of opposition between the 'public square' and the
'Institutions'".
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