The clashes of two weeks ago in Pisa have not been forgotten by the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has chosen in recent days to summon the police unions to the Chigi Palace – which he announced to Matteo Piantedosi during the briefing on the events in Pisa – to discuss a contract which must be renewed for a certain time and concerns 450,000 people, to which new hires could be added. And the table was also the occasion for a long discussion on the role of the police, filtered in full on the press agencies. “I would like to recall here – said Meloni – that in 97% of the protests that have taken place in recent months there have been no critical problems. Critical issues were noted in only 3% of cases, demonstrating excellent public order management and your ability to protect sensitive sites. These are facts that it is right to reiterate and highlight, because I believe that the systematic smear campaign to which you are being subjected is unjust.”
The events of Pisa
Meloni also hypothesizes changing the rules for managing public order. “Minister Piantedosi, in Parliament, and the police chief, have ensured careful verification of what happened in Pisa and full collaboration with the judicial authorities to highlight errors or abuses. Without prejudice to these findings and respecting their autonomy, the purpose of our meeting is to look at the present and the future, and therefore to receive from you proposals on the contribution that the Government and, for the part of The initiative of the Government, Parliament they can give today to improve the management of public order. We want to understand what can be done to better manage public order. » Precisely in this regard, the police unions would have proposed introducing Daspo also for demonstrators (i.e. a ban on participation in demonstrations by decision of the police commissioner and without prior criminal conviction) and would have blocked the idea of introducing an identification number on the helmets of the agents, in order to identify the perpetrators of violence and abuse. Both requests would have been welcomed by Meloni and Piantedosi.
The number of events
Meloni highlighted how the number of protests has increased significantly in recent months. “From October 7 to today, in fact, there have been more than a thousand street initiatives. Italy, unlike other nations, has not banned demonstrations in favor of Palestine because for us it is fundamental to guarantee the full right to express any political position. It is a right – he added – which must be balanced with respect for the rules which govern it and with the necessary protection of the sensitive objectives targeted by the demonstrators, very often attributable to symbols more of the Jewish religion than of the State of Israel (a place where the latter must also be defended)”.
Unreported events
“If it is true that demonstrations should not be authorized, it is also true that they must be communicated to provide the opportunity to calibrate the forces on the ground and the means to be used. When the person responsible for public order, that is to say the police commissioner, dictates provisions on the conduct of the demonstration, for example by keeping his distance from sensitive objectives, he does not do so to deny the right to demonstrate, but to guarantee it as best as possible. , and at the same time to avoid denying the rights also enshrined in the Constitution. It is obvious that if, as happened recently with more than one demonstration, the organizers do not communicate any communication, this increases your difficulties, regardless of the age of the participants. “There is not only the right to demonstrate, which no one questions: there is also the duty to respect the rules,” concluded Meloni.
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