Italian political parties continued
to spar Sunday over the allegedly heavy handed policing of a
peaceful pro-Palestinian student demonstration in Pisa Friday.
Rightwing League leader Matteo Salvini said "hands off the
police" and members of Premier Giorgia Meloni's rightwing
Brothers of Italy (FdI) party attacked the students for
"provoking" the police by trying to reach the US consulate in
the Tuscan city.
But the centre-left opposition condemned the clashes after video
footage emerged showing some officers repeatedly hitting
pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the head.
Centre-left and leftwing officials slammed the "serious" alleged
policing failures and Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein,
leader of the biggest opposition party, said President Sergio
Mattarella had "said it all" in saying Saturday that authority
was not conferred by batons" and their use had "failed the
young".
Schlein and others also continued to demand that Meloni speak
out about the incidents after the president did so.
Salvini again defended the police saying "it is right to make
analyses to see if (the police) did what they had to do, or if
someone went too far, but they are women and men, not robots,
and they should not be drawn into a political row."
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told Sunday's edition of the
Corriere della Sera newspaper that the rules on the management
of public order have not changed, and he will not shy away from
an assessment of what happened.
And to those who ask him to report to parliament, he said he is
"available, but no to discussions to discredit the government or
the police force."
Mattarella said Saturday that the authoritativeness of the State
cannot be measured by batons, after speaking with Piantedosi on
the events in Pisa.
"The President of the Republic reminded the Interior Minister,
finding his agreement (on the subject), that the
authoritativeness of the police forces cannot be measured by
batons but by the capacity to ensure security while
safeguarding, at the same time, the freedom to publicly express
opinions," said a note from the presidential Quirinale Palace.
"Truncheons express failure with young people".
Asked to respond on Sunday, Salvini, who is also deputy premier
and transport minister, said:
"The president's words can be read but not commented on".
Then, pressed, he added: "Of course it is always better that
there are no clashes.
"Policemen and Carabinieri are daily victims of physical and
verbal violence.
"Even in that square.
If my son went and shouted 'cop asshole'
then he would have to deal with me.
Salvini said "anyone who puts his hands on a policeman or a
Carabiniere is a delinquent".
Schlein responded by saying that Meloni's silence on the eposide
showed she had "no sense of the institutions.
"I would like the centre right exponents to break their silence
on the events in Pisa," said the PD chief.
"And that Giorgia Meloni should do so above all, she who is
demonstrating that she has no sense of the institutions.
"Let her stop hiding behind her ministers and come to report
directly to parliament on what happened".
She continued: "It's time for the premier to say something about
what happened and about the management of public order on the
occasion of the very serious episodes that happened in Pisa,
with the baton-charging of students by police but also other
similar episodes that occurred previously.
"It's not the first time, sadly, that we are witnessing actions
of this kind".
Another opposition leader, Green Europe co-spokesman Angelo
Bonelli, said: "Giorgia Meloni continues in her silence
regarding the use of truncheons by the police on the students in
Pisa, even after the stance adopted by President Sergio
Mattarella .
"But she expresses herself through the words of her FdI
coordinator, Giovanni Donzelli, who attacks the demonstrators
instead of listening to those asking for more wisdom and
dialogue as an alternative to the use of batons, as suggested by
the president's appeal".
Friday also saw baton charges on another pro-Palestinian demo in
Tuscany, in Florence, but no footage emerged of officers hitting
students on the head there.
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