Italy fast-tracks security decree after violent clashes in Turin injure 100 officers

0

BEĞENDİM

ABONE OL

News

0

Italy’s government is fast-tracking a security decree after violent clashes in Turin left more than 100 officers injured and a policeman beaten with a hammer by masked protesters, an attack Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called “attempted murder”.

The officer, 29-year-old Alessandro Calista, of the Padua Mobile Police Unit, was surrounded by masked demonstrators and struck repeatedly — including with a hammer — before another officer intervened with a riot shield to extract him from the crowd.

He sustained multiple contusions and a hammer injury but was discharged from the hospital later on Sunday with an expected recovery, alongside at least one other officer also admitted to Turin’s Molinette hospital.

Authorities arrested three men aged 22, 31 and 35 following Saturday’s violence during a demonstration supporting the evicted Askatasuna anarchist social centre.

The 22-year-old from the province of Grosseto was taken into custody and identified from video footage as one of those who attacked Calista.

He faces charges of complicity in causing personal injury to a public official during a public order demonstration, along with robbery charges for taking Calista’s shield, equipment and gas mask.

Several government ministers are pressing for attempted murder charges instead of assault.

Additionally, more than 20 individuals were reported by police on various charges including carrying improper weapons, resisting authorities, and disguising themselves, with objects such as stones, wrenches, and knives seized from some.

Authorities said 108 security personnel were injured in the clashes, including 96 police officers, seven financial police and five carabinieri.

Protesters threw bottles, stones, homemade incendiary devices and smoke bombs, set fire to rubbish bins and a police armoured vehicle, and used street furniture and uprooted lampposts as weapons.

Police said the most aggressive group numbered approximately 1,500 protesters, including participants from France and northern Europe, raising concerns for public order planning ahead of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.

Government proposes sweeping measures

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence, calling the attack on the officer “attempted murder” — language she reiterated after visiting injured officers at Molinette hospital Sunday.

She announced that the government would accelerate a security package already in development, holding a meeting on Monday to finalise measures expected to go to the Council of Ministers later in the week.

The measures under consideration include preventive police detention of at least 12 hours for repeat violent offenders, restrictions on knife sales to minors, and expanded self-defence protections extending beyond police to other citizens.

“When you hit someone with a hammer, you do so knowing that the consequences can be very, very serious. This is not a protest, these are not clashes. This is called attempted murder,” Meloni said on Sunday.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi will brief parliament Tuesday on the violence, which government officials labelled “urban terrorism” and “attempted murder”.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called for immediate approval of the security package, describing it as “the best antidote to immediately block the extreme left’s attempt to bring violence back to the streets of Italian cities”.

Opposition leaders condemned the violence while criticising the government’s approach. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein called the attacks “unacceptable” but questioned the government’s broader security strategy.

Critics argue the government’s framing of events as “urban terrorism” represents a politically motivated tactic to delegitimise protest movements and distract from social issues.

The Askatasuna social centre had been occupied for nearly 30 years before authorities evicted it in December following an attack on newspaper La Stampa’s headquarters.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella called Piantedosi on Saturday evening to express solidarity with the attacked officers and all security forces who suffered violence during the demonstration.