From July 18th to July 22, 2001, at least 100,000 up to as many as 200,000 people protested against the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy. The protesters objected to the role of G8: having the eight most powerful governments in the world setting rules for everyone else to follow. Police and many politicians argued that protesters attempting to blockade a meeting constituted violence and an attempt to impede the workings of governments. People, you've got to break things down whatever anybody says.
With these wordings, all protests can be dubbed a violent attempts to impede government policy.
Do you know of many protests that don't object to government policy and want to impede or reverse it?
Isn't that a basic theme in protests?
But let us move on.
Over 400 people were injured and dozens more arrested.
23-year-old Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by Mario Placanica, a Carabinieri officer. Placanica was acquitted from any wrong-doing and considered it legitimate defense in response to Giuliana potentially attempting to throw a fire extinguisher during the clashes. Edoardo Parodi, a close friend of Carlo Giuliani, also died after Genoa due to severe health problems likely connected to the police use of CS gas during the event. There are many stories which still go around about other deaths connected to the Genoa G8 Summit.
The government also took many measures beforehand to prevent protesters from reaching the G8 Summit and several border riots resulted over this.
Police raided places housing protesters and campsites. The most infamous raid was at Diaz-Pascoli and Diaz-Pertini schools on July 21. The schools were being used as sleeping quarters and as as centers for providing media, medical, and legal support work. Police attacks left three activists, including journalist Mark Covell, in comas. Another person suffered brain damage. Another had both jaws and fourteen teeth broken. Over 60 people were severely injured by the police.
One inquiry concluded no wrongdoing on the part of police. But in 2005, twenty-nine police officers would become indicted for grievous bodily harm, planting evidence and wrongful arrest during the night-time raid on the Diaz School. Pietro Troiani, the deputy police chief in Genoa, admitted that Molotov cocktails were planted to justify the Diaz School raids and also admitted that they had even faked a stabbing of a police officer to frame activists.
But even after the protests had ended, the police continued to raid social centers, media centers, union buildings, and legal offices as a part of "ongoing investigations". Nearly a hundred people were arrested as part of these raids.
This is not a full account of the much longer list of abuses, this is just a taste to give you a rough idea about the actions by the police and state officials against activists.
And now, more than six years later, the long list of excessive use of force, breaking the law, and planting evidence against activists are still being dragged on and on in court. Politicians and police continue to label the injuries and deaths as exaggerated and not that serious. And it can't help but remind me of how abusers will often marginalize or dismiss the abuse they are caught doing as simply "not that bad".
On November 17th, 2007, 50,000 people filled the streets in Genoa six years later to protest recent G8 Summit related charges against 25 protesters of "ransacking and devastation", proposing 225 years in jail and 100,000 Euros fine for "hurting the reputation of Genoa".
All the while, the long list of wrongdoings by the police continues to be stalled in courts or found "no wrongdoing" despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
Genoa, you are the ones who hurt the reputation of Genoa. You dug yourself into a hole in 2001 and now you are still hard at work digging yourself even deeper six years later. Those who have hurt your reputation is not those protesters, but you yourself, Genoa, your police, your courts, your politicians, and your government. You yourself have injured your own reputation. No one else, but you.
And it is only with people such as the 50,000 protesters fighting against your gross behavior which can even possibly redeem your city. Listen to them. Ignore them and further blacken and smear your own reputation.
If you do not drop these charges against the 25 protesters, your reputation will be forever marred. If you do not prosecute your violent, lawless police thugs, your reputation will be even more damaged.
You can't spin your way out of this. You aren't going to be able to rewrite history this time. The rest of the world isn't as stupid as you would hope. And we are paying attention.
And until there is real justice instead of further injustice, there will be never be redemption for Genoa's sins.
There is only one way to redeem yourself, Genoa.
Free the protesters. Jail the thug police.
- Stewart N. Thorpe (Ramognino) of Citizen Press Revolution
- http://www.myspace.com/citizenpressrevolution
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