2008-06-25
[Gipfelsoli Infogroup]
Press Release June 25th 2008
[Rome | Genoa | Berlin] On Tuesday, under the new coalition government, the Italian Senate passed new and wide-ranging repressive legalislation. Immigration prevention and deportations will now be easier and a DNA Database is to be introduced. Police and army forces will patrol the streets together, for which 2.500 soldiers have been designated. In June there were attacks on Roma in which police were invovled. “Beggar laws” will increase pressure on victims.
The new legislation also means that all trials that began before 2002 will be deferred for one year.
This saves Berlusconi from legal proceedings regarding allegations of corruption of the British lawyer David Mills. As a result, rules regarding the limitation of time periods in which a case can be brought before the courts can be used to avoid concluding many of the trials, meaning that in a number of the existing cases, a final decision can no longer be expected.
On July 21st the courts are to make a final decision in the long-stanging “Bolzaneto Case”.Summit protesters were brutally attacked and mishandled at the Bolzaneto police barracks in JUly 2001. 45 officers and heads of the state and military police, prison services, doctors and other personnel are charged.
300 victims are taking legal action as joint plaintiffs, half of whom are from outside of Italy. Compensation claims are dependent on the outcome of the trial.
“The state prosecution’s reconstruction of events in Bolzaneto demonstrates violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights”, says the Segretaria Legale, a Genovese legal support group that works closely with the lawyers.
The new Berlusconi legislation will be fully ratified on July 25th, four days after the final decision is due to be made in the “Blozaneto Case”. Lawyers of the mishandled demonstrators suspect delay tactics on the side of the government, who are using all means to prevent the conviction of police officers. The Genovese lawyer Laura Tertarini has referred to a “race against time”: We have been through a great deal over the years of this trial. From false evidence and non-cooperation of witnesses and the accused. We thought it was all over, this new legislation is sheer mockery".
From JUly 18th to 22nd, actions and events will take place in Genoa to mark the seventh anniversary of the G8 protests and Carlo Giuliani’s death. In protest against the looming suspension of the Bolzaneto Case joint plaintiffs and anti-G8 protesters have registered a rally outside the Italian embassy in Berlin on July 4th.
Background
Photos (License: Creative Commons)
