The clashes between students and police officers, which recently occurred in Pisa and Florence, are fueling the debate on There is a risk that the current government intends to restrict the freedom to protest. However, the latest data highlights a reassuring reality, since accidents have only occurred at a few events this year.
The media, on the other hand, broadcast videos of police officers in Pisa beating young demonstrators with batons as they tried to break through a blockade of security forces. However, these images do not represent the minutes preceding the police charge which are nevertheless visible online only in a few images. The reconstruction of these moments will be used by the judiciary and the Department of Public Security to identify the reasons for the violent action of the police, assess its intensity, as well as analyze the behavior of the demonstrators.
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Almost all demonstrations take place without incident
Citizens have the right to assemble peacefully and without weapons, with the developer required to notify the police commissioner three days in advance, so that community protection measures can be put in place. The interaction between promoters and police services is crucial, to find a synthesis between the demonstrators' need for visibility and the need to preserve public safety.
After the incidents in Pisa, Margherita Raggi, a high school student, became the spokesperson for the young people who had demonstrated. You, from the student movement, declared that “In recent years, there has been a tendency to use force to suppress peaceful demonstrations.”
Analyzing the data, since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, no demonstration has been banned. Indeed, from October 7, 2023 to February 28, there were 1,076, with the highest point being 33 accidents (3.07%). Additionally, in the first two months of 2024, 2,538 events took place, of which only 1.5% were characterized by critical issues.
SO, in Italy, the freedom to demonstrate is not threatened, but the police must intervene in case of violation of the rules of the event. Leaving the investigation into responsibilities to criminal and administrative investigations, it must be considered that in Pisa the organizers did not warn in advance of the event, while in Florence the procession, which was supposed to end in a square, tried to go beyond to reach the American consulate.
THE scuffles that have already taken place in Florence
A situation comparable to those in Pisa and Florence, characterized by protests against the situation in Gaza, has already occurred in the Florentine capital. On May 13, 1999, to oppose NATO's military intervention in the Balkans, many demonstrators tried to occupy the headquarters of the Left Democrats. Additionally, after deviating from their route, protesters attempted to attack the US consulate, forcing a police cordon. There were injuries among the police and demonstrators, who reported the “blunt blows” they had received to the prosecution.
The criminal trial ended on January 28, 2008, with seven-year prison sentences handed down by the Florence court against thirteen protesters. Alfio Nicotra, from Rifondazione Comunista, said that at that time there were “accused sintended to prevent legitimate protest, with THE demonstrators who are victims and not responsible for violence.”
The trial therefore did not highlight any risk for the freedom to demonstrate, confirming that the police had acted correctly. At the time, the government was chaired by the Hon. Massimo D'Alema, with the Hon. Sergio Mattarella Deputy Prime Minister and the Hon. Rosa Russo Jervolino Minister of the Interior.
Training of those who must guarantee the freedom to demonstrate
Public order, characterized by multiple variables, requires rapid decisions. Since preparation and professionalism cannot be improvised, a specific State Police training center has been active since 2008 in Nettuno (Rome). There they teach how to plan events, also taking care of the psychological aspects of operational stress management and ethical profiles, so that the police operator can act with tolerance and proportionate rigor.
Stefano Paoloni, general secretary of the Autonomous Police Union (SAP), said that “It would be useful to provide a security buffer between the police and the demonstrators”what constitutes “an impassable zone” as long as “Police officers have a duty to obey the laws and not be kicked or punched.”
Freedom to protest in Italy is not under threat (photo by Koshu Kunii of Unsplash)
It is up to politicians to evaluate the introduction of this dividing line, in order to isolate those who, by violating the rules, endanger the freedom to demonstrate.
