Complaining about batons in Pisa: “We have not changed the rules on public order. Were there any excesses? We will evaluate”

Finally, he spoke. After receiving the call from the Head of State Sergio Mattarella and accepting the harsh and clear statement from the Ministry of the Interior (“CWith boys, batons express failure”) Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi addresses Corriere della Sera. “I spoke to the president. I agree with his comments, like all police officers. We all still hope that the public demonstrations will take place calmly and without incident. The collaboration of the demonstrators is also fundamental in this sense”, declares the head of the Ministry of the Interior. “Seeing these images bored me and also embittered me. In the event of physical contact with minors, it is in all necessary to carry out an objective examination of the way in which the facts occurred. I asked for a detailed report on the course of events and on what mediation activity was developed to avoid these incidents which are neither good nor for the demonstrators nor for the operators present on the ground. And not even for all of us.”

“More batons?” It's not like that”

He denies the increase in clashes between the police and the street: “I look at the data and I say that is not the case. For more than a year, more than 13,000 demonstrations have been organized by the police. And of these, only a small portion recorded accidents, with a prevalence of injuries among police forces compared to demonstrators.” He explains that there was a resurgence since the outbreak of conflict between Israel and the Hamas. “Since October 7, there have been more than a thousand demonstrations and only 3 percent of the cases involved accidents.”

“We do not hesitate to assess errors”

“Our police forces are among the best in the world also from the point of view of managing demonstrations of free dissent,” says Piantedosi. “This professionalism also includes the ability to self-criticize and learn from related mistakes, assessments that we will not back down from this time either.” And again: “The government has no interest in riots occurring, on the contrary it wants to ensure the maximum expression of citizens' freedoms in an ordinary and peaceful manner.” The minister declares himself “conscientiously available” to clarify the question in Parliament. When asked whether or not he had news from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he replied that he thanked the trust of the members of the government, with the statements made yesterday, but clarified that “the responsibility of the public order belongs to him” and “I am also responsible to him.

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