To Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy, Mr. Romano Prodi\ To Ambassador to Japan, Mr. Mario Bova

We hereby strongly protest against the repression and attacks waged by the state of Italy through demands of high punishment towards the 2001 G8 Genoa protests.

Six years after the G8 Summit protests in Genoa, a number of court cases against demonstrators and members of the police force are still taking place. The cases against police officers and Carabinieri are being stalled in order to take advantage of the statute of limitation that will soon expire. In the cases against the 25 activists the state prosecutors, Canepa and Canciani are displaying full force. There have never been such high sentence demands for street clashes.

The witnesses have all been heard. In its plea the state prosecution is demanding jail sentences between 6 and 16 years, a total of 225 years. With these convictions they intend to write history as: ’Let’s call Genoa what it was: looting and destruction. Last week the Government in Rome ordered compensation claims against the 25 charged. These claims total 2.6 million Euros for the property damage that occurred, for example, at the Marassi prison. Included in this is a large sum intended as compensation for the image loss the city of Genoa is said to have suffered.