Italy's main prisoners' rights group
on Tuesday slammed government plans to introduce a "penal
shield" for police amid violent protests against the police
force across Italy after Milan Carabinieri were accused of
ramming a scooter in a chase and killing a 19-year-old
Egyptian-Italian man.
Critics of the police, who deny the charges, have linked it to
previous cases of brutality and heavy handed policing such as
the "Mexican massacre" at the 2001 Genoa G7 summit and the 2009
fatal beating of a Roman surveyor, Stefano Cucchi.
The new penal shield would be aimed at stopping officers
policing violent protests from being charged with criminal
conduct.
"The vast majority of police officers do not need criminal
shields because they behave in a manner consistent with the
law," said the chair of penal human rights group Antigone,
Patrizio Gonnella.
"How would one distinguish between those who have been unjustly
accused and those who are perpetrators of violence?
"All the legislative tools are already present today in the
penal code and in the consolidated police law, to deal with all
the possible crimes that are committed in the streets.
"Any form of criminal protection or immunity of any profession
is unjustified. This gives a horrible message of legitimization
of abuses through legal protection.
Some of the more violent street protests against police officers
over the death of Ramy Elgaml have been described by Premier
Giorgia Meloni as "ignoble".
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