Italy Says Protesters Abetted Rioters At G-8 Summit 

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal 23jul01

[ Italy's Opposition Criticizes Handling of Genoa Protests Below ]

GENOA, Italy -- The government of Italy accused the mainstream organizers of this weekend's antiglobalization demonstrations of secretly colluding with violent rioters during the protests in which one demonstrator was killed by police, hundreds of people were wounded and much of this Mediterranean city was devastated.

In the early hours of Sunday, Italian police raided the school building that housed the Genoa Social Forum, the umbrella group that united environmentalist, Communist, human-rights and Catholic groups opposed to globalization. Some 92 people were arrested, after what witnesses described as hours of being beaten by the police. The school floor was covered with pools of blood, teeth and smashed computer screens after the raid.

Speaking at a news conference at the end of the Group of Eight industrial nation's summit, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said anarchist members of the "Black Block" a small roving band behind most of this weekend's violence, "apparently were hiding (in the school) and were helped by Genoa Social Forum representatives," who were "colluding" with the rioters.

The GSF, which brought tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators to this weekend's marches against the summit, has always stressed the movement's nonviolent nature. All of its leaders say they have no knowledge about the identity of these "Black Block" militants - and claim that these rioters are, in fact, police infiltrators. An Italian television station, La 7, this weekend showed grainy coverage of what appeared to be "Black Block" activists conversing with police shortly before a riot began. Police deny such links.

But even the most moderate of the protesters don't hide their suspicions. "Too many strange things have happened here," said Maria Grazia Francescato, head of the Green Party that belonged to Italy's government until Mr. Berlusconi took over last month. "They want to make all of us look like criminals. I've been to all these demonstrations - Seattle, Prague, Davos - and there the police just did what it was supposed to do. Here, it was something completely different."

Throughout the weekend, the "Black Block" militants, usually wearing black ski masks, helmets and protective body gear, mingled within GSF's peaceful marchers. They would appear at the edge of the crowd, throw Molotov cocktails into bank branches, set vehicles and garbage containers on fire and then retreat, exposing the other demonstrators to tear gas and a charge by the police.

Well organized and connected to each other with cellular phones, these militants would then reappear behind the police lines, wreaking havoc at random spots around the city. Unlike the other protesters, these "Black Block" militants also treated journalists as the enemy.

According to Italian reporters who witnessed Sunday morning's raid, several "Black Block" militants appeared at the building, some with Molotov cocktails, and were immediately followed by police. After an hour-long standoff, police stormed the school, arresting all the people inside. According to police, some 61 of these detainees were already injured in the previous riots; neighbors described hours of screaming coming out of the school following entry by police. A police agent was stabbed in the melee, but wasn't injured because he was wearing a protective jacket, police said.

The police - which issued a short statement saying that all 92 detainees were arrested for a conspiracy to riot and loot, and for possession of Molotov cocktails - declined to answer questions beyond its short statement. At its Genoa headquarters, police displayed what it called "weapons" seized at the school, which consisted of two wine bottles apparently filled with gas, small Swiss army knives, cellular phones, swimming goggles and snorkeling gear used against tear gas. There were also motorcycle helmets, nails, rods and hammers that were plentiful at a construction site within the school.

Such controversial action has immediately prompted a barrage of criticism. Angered by the fact that one reporter's arm was broken in the raid, the Federation of Italian Press condemned it as a "dramatic aggression" and an "unjustified blitz."

Italy's Opposition Criticizes Handling of Genoa Protests 

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal 24jul01

ROME -- As the rioting finally ended in Genoa, Italy's center-left Ulivo opposition declared war on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's administration, accusing it of mishandling the antiglobalization protests and tolerating unjustified police brutality.

Newly united after two months of bickering that followed Mr. Berlusconi's electoral victory on May 13, Ulivo demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Claudio Scajola and the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the violence at last weekend's summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.

"There were bands of thugs left free to wreak havoc in the city, and there was police violence against peaceful demonstrators," said Ulivo leader Francesco Rutelli. This, he said, was because Mr. Berlusconi "worried more about flower arrangements and whether people hang their laundry outside" rather than about life-and-death matters like security.

1Read the text of the Final Communique From the Group of Eight's Annual Summit

* * *
2G-8 Leaders Close Annual Summit, Vow to Change Plans for Next Year (July 23)

3Italian Police Execute Brutal Raid on Headquarters of Alleged Rioters (July 23)

4Antiglobalization Activists Are Shifting Focus to Multinational Corporations (July 23)

One protester was killed by police, several hundred people were injured and a large part of Genoa was ransacked by a small but violent group of anarchist militants in two days of pitched street battles.

Controversial Raid

In a controversial raid after the violence had already died down, police broke into a Genoa school that housed the mainstream antiglobalization umbrella group, the Genoa Social Forum. In that raid, police arrested 92 people -- and, according to eyewitnesses, severely beat most of these detainees. Genoa magistrates cordoned off the building, which was stained by dozens of dried pools of blood, as evidence.

Mr. Scajola, who headed Mr. Berlusconi's Forza Italia party until joining the government last month, told a parliamentary hearing that the raid on the school "was not a reprisal" -- adding that he asked judicial authorities to verify "the grounds and the legitimacy of the operation." According to Interior Ministry officials, Mr. Scajola -- whose functions include overseeing the police -- wasn't informed by police about the raid beforehand.

Mr. Berlusconi's government, which rejected demands for Mr. Scajola's dismissal, approved the creation of a 7.7-billion-euro fund to cover immediate damages sustained by uninsured businesses in Genoa during the riots. The government also officially expressed condolences to the family of the killed protester, Carlo Giuliani. This didn't convince the opposition. Some center-left lawmakers screamed "Assassins" as they repeatedly heckled Mr. Scajola's speech in Parliament.

According to the Ulivo, the deadly incident could have been easily prevented. While massive police presence was deployed around the venues of the G-8 summit, the troops in the actual rioting area were often inadequately equipped and had little experience in quelling unrest, they said.

Retaliation Begins

Mr. Giuliani, while apparently throwing a fire extinguisher at police, was shot to death by a 20-year-old trooper. The trooper, who is a drafted soldier, was unfamiliar with Genoa, lacked nonlethal ammunition like rubber pellets, and -- unlike the rioters -- didn't have a gas mask. This was the first death at a political demonstration in Italy in 24 years.

Already, the killing provoked retaliation from anarchist groups across Europe. A group calling itself the "Carlo Giuliani Brigade" firebombed several offices and Italian targets in Greece; windows were smashed at Italian diplomatic missions in Sweden and Britain, while Genoa government officials received a parcel bomb that was disabled in time.

In the speech in Parliament, Mr. Scajola warned about the possibility of more terrorist bombings by these militant groups. He said that there were about 5,000 "insurrectionist anarchists' at the 200,000-strong Genoa demonstration -- accusing the GSF of "providing a network of tolerance" to this violent fringe.

While the GSF angrily denied such accusations, the violence had already prompted soul-searching among many campaigners. Many stressed the need to make crystal-clear their rejection of violence. "All ambiguity must be eliminated," said Maria Grazia Francescato, head of the Italian Green Party.