«The vision of the images of the clashes in Pisa, circulated in the media, disturbed me too». The Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, in his briefing to the Chamber, responds to the controversy over the beatings of students which also led to the recall by the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella: «We all hope that the public demonstrations take place peacefully and without incidents and when it comes to physical contact with minors it is still a defeat and it is even more necessary to carry out every check with punctuality, objectivity and transparency".
The defense of the police
Having said this, the head of the Interior Ministry then defends the police forces: «Allow me to underline the right of members of the police forces not to undergo summary trials. They are workers who deserve the utmost respect! The management of public order is a daily commitment, delicate and not without risks, carried out with the utmost dedication by women and men in uniform ." «I firmly reject - he adds - any attempt to involve, in political controversies, the work of the Police Force, the guardian of the democratic institutions which has the fundamental and essential task of guaranteeing everyone, in an impartial manner, the exercise of right to assembly and expression of thought, in complete safety for the demonstrators themselves, the police officers, the citizens and the places concerned".
The reconstruction
So the reconstruction of what happened last Friday. For the demonstration in Pisa, "in total violation of the law, no notice had been given to the police headquarters" . The Police Headquarters who, "having heard about it, tried several times, without success, to contact the organizers to obtain information regarding the type of initiative that would be carried out and the related route, in order to be able to provide suitable public order services". Then the facts: «Digos personnel, once the procession had started, invited the demonstrators several times to give directions on the route and not to proceed towards Piazza dei Cavalieri, where transit would not be allowed to avoid the possible continuation towards sensitive objectives including Piazza dei Miracoli, for which the ban on demonstrations had been considered by the Committee for Public Order and Security. The demonstrators, despite every attempt at interlocution, refused to provide directions and moved in a procession to then reach one of the entrances to Piazza dei Cavalieri, where a contingent of the Mobile Department of the State Police had been deployed for dissuasive purposes" . « The Police Force - continues the owner of the Interior Ministry - ordered the demonstrators to stop, reiterating once again, without any result, the request to provide directions on the route. The procession, however, continued to advance, forcing the police cordon, at first, to move back several meters to avoid clashes, until it came into contact with a vehicle positioned to prevent access to Piazza dei Cavalieri" . In this phase, he notes, «about ten demonstrators passed the barrier, reaching the backs of the line-up of operators on duty. They were therefore blocked by police personnel and taken to the adjacent Piazza dei Cavalieri. Among these, a well-known antagonist exponent. As the strong pressure continued, a second contingent of the departments arrived ."
The charge "to guarantee the safety of the officers"
At this point there was the lightening charge: «To guarantee the safety of the police operators, compressed against the vehicle placed behind them, a lightening charge was carried out, allowing the personnel to advance a few meters and thus easing the pressure on the demonstrators ." Previously the officers had held their position "using only shields, despite the fact that the demonstrators continued to apply pressure with pushes, kicks, insults, spitting and attempts to remove the shields". 17 demonstrators, including 11 minors, and 2 State Police officials were injured in the clashes. Four people were reported for the crime of aggravated resistance to a public official and for violation of article 18 of the consolidated law on public security. These are adults, all with precedents for crimes relating to public order.
«A climate of growing aggression»
After the Hamas attack on 7 October, «a climate of growing aggression towards the police forces has developed throughout the national territory , both with the aim of being attractive and provoking reactions from those who manage public order , in order to increase the level of conflict between the 'street' and the institutions". Hence the appeal also to the political forces: «I hope that there is a common desire on the part of all the political forces to lower the tone, without ever giving up the democratic dialectic». «Public order must be left out of any speculation and the Police Force, always subject to democratic control, must be protected from dangerous attempts at exploitation. We must not forget the ability of our institutions, and of all political forces, to draw on a reserve of wisdom and balance in the general interest of citizens, demonstrated, even in the most difficult moments of our republican history, in the presence of strong conflicts ideological or relevant social tensions". «With the succession of majorities at the helm of the nation, even of different types - continues the minister - the need to avoid the exacerbation of social conflict has never disappeared. This was done with the precise aim of preventing an excessive rate of quarrelsomeness from giving way to forms of deviation of the political debate from its natural democratic context. The Government in office has this need firmly in mind and will continue to act to ensure that it is shared at all institutional and responsibility levels, always guaranteeing the exercise of constitutional freedoms."
(Unioneonline/D)
