Twenty-three activists arrested for G8 disturbances
01 January 2003
On 4 December 2002, 23 activists were arrested in several Italian cities on orders from an investigating judge in Genoa for preliminary investigations in an operation, code-named "Delta", conducted by the national police force. The charges against the activists include violence against property (including an attack against Marassi prison, the overturning of rubbish containers to make barricades and breaking some shop shutters, and setting fire to cars and a police van), looting (of two supermarkets), possession of explosive and weapons (sticks and some molotov cocktails), violence against public officers, as well as "psychological participation", in connection with disturbances during the G8 summit in July 2001 in Genoa.
"Psychological participation" allows people who are present at the scene of violent incidents without participating to be charged for encouraging others. Participation in criminal acts may result from "making a criminal intent arise in others that did not previously exist", or from "strengthening another person's criminal intent that was already present". Thus:
their mere presence on the scene of the clashes, as part of a group with the more violent elements, strengthened their intentions through encouragement which does not in itself constitute criminal activity, but nonetheless concurring in the intent of others.
The charges of destruction and looting carry eight to 15-year prison sentences, whereas criminal damage carries a one-year prison sentence, or three if there are aggravating circumstances.
The charges are based on extensive video footage and photographic material available to investigating magistrates and police forces, which has been worked on by a specially constituted 12-man team. Aggressive actions, such as raids on Indymedia and Cobas (Comitati di Base) trade union offices in Bologna, Florence and Taranto were carried out in November 2002 to confiscate computers holding information, photographs and images that were considered to be of interest. Police sources reportedly claim that hundreds of activists were identified on the basis of this evidence, so further arrests or charges against individuals are expected. Activists claim that the decontextualisation of the images hides the fact that in numerous instances violence by demonstrators was a response to attacks carried out on them by the police or carabinieri.
A police charge against a legal march by the Disobbedienti (a protest group supporting civil disobedience and occupations) in via Tolemaide led to widespread clashes. Luca Casarini, spokesperson for the Disobbedienti, said the group was responsible for distributing gas masks, shields and padding, of making barricades to stop a police van driving into a crowd, and of violent acts in self-defence from an attack. He also argued that the gas masks were necessary, considering the vast amount of gases (which included canisters of CS gas) that was released on helpless persons.
The 23 arrests led to nine people being held in preventative custody, nine more placed under house arrest, and five being forbidden from leaving their home province. The justification for custody involved the danger that the activists may repeat their criminal acts. Eventually, preventative custody was confirmed for five individuals. On 11 February, after spending two months in Genoa's Pontedecimo prison, M. C. was placed under house arrest.
Investigations into the killing of Carlo Giuliani appear to be heading for an early shelving by judge Silvio Franz, with carabiniere Mario Placanica deemed to have acted in self-defence, although video footage shows him aiming with a straight arm for several seconds before shooting Giuliani in the head, and failing to fire warning shots.
Four journalists, from Il manifesto, Il Secolo XIX, and Repubblica newspapers, were charged by the Genoa prosecutors office for including extracts from the questioning of several police officers and high-ranking officers re