No-TAV activists given 140 yrs in jail

(ANSA) - Turin, January 27 - Some 47 activists accused of clashing with police during protests against a high-speed rail line were given a total of 140 years in prison Tuesday.
    The charges date from protests in the summer of 2011 against the high-speed rail line (TAV) being built in Piedmont's pristine Susa Valley to connect Italy and France.
    Prosecutors had requested a total of 193 years in prison on charges included bodily harm and battery of a public official in connection with clashes between protesters and police on June 27 and July 3, 2011.
    Another six defendants were acquitted in the trial that took almost two years.
    The sentences were greeted with shouts of "shame" from the public and defence lawyers said the sentences were excessive.
    Gianluca Vitale, one of the defence lawyers, called the jail terms "absurd and ridiculous" and said there was "a total lack of evidence".
    Other No-TAV activists put up a makeshift roadblock on a street near the courthouse to show their opposition to the sentences.
    The high-speed rail line, which will eventually connect Turin to Lyon, has sparked years of protest from locals and other activists who denounce its high cost and damage to the environment.
    France and Italy argue it will save money and help the environment in the long run by cutting down on automobile traffic.
    Anna Ronfani, lawyer for the Lyon-Turin railway company Ltf, said the convictions did not mean restrictions on free speech by the protestors.
    "They were not convicted for their opinions but for the way they manifested their dissent, which exceeded the boundaries of what is permissible," said Ronfani.
    Meanwhile, in a civil trial related to the protests, the court ordered 150,000 euros in damages be paid by No-TAV activists to plaintiffs that include the ministries of interior, defence, and economy.
    The judicial order awarded about half of the total to those ministries with the remainder divided among the plaintiffs including Ltf, police unions, and officers injured in the clashes.