Italy Targets Protesters, Increases Protections for Law Enforcement

The Italian Senate this week approved a controversial security measure to crack down on demonstrations while increasing the power of, and protection for, intelligence and law enforcement officers, even when they break the law, Politico reported. 

The bill, sponsored by the far-right government, was approved in the lower house last week, and Wednesday in the Senate, passing by a vote of 109 to 69 with one abstention. Center-left opposition lawmakers sat on the floor during the vote and chanted “shame” in protest. 

The bill introduces harsher penalties for protest-related offenses, such as property damage and disruptive sit-ins. The legislation also gives broader power to law enforcement and allows intelligence agents to break the law if national security needs call for it.  

It also makes injuring a police officer who is on duty a crime and allocates more than $11,000 to cover legal costs for those under investigation for their behavior while on duty. 

By criminalizing the blocking of roads and the vandalism of public property, it essentially targets climate change protesters, for example, who have often disrupted traffic or damaged monuments in the country, noted Reuters. 

Other parts of the bill extend jail time for inmates who riot or disobey orders in prisons and migrant detention centers, even if they do so through acts of passive resistance.  

While Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promoted the bill as part of a plan to make Italy safer, saying it “strengthens the protection of citizens, the most vulnerable groups and our men and women in uniform,” it has triggered protests across the country in recent months. 

Human rights groups have accused the government of criminalizing dissent, limiting civil liberties, and curtailing the right to protest. 

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty had also warned that the legislation may violate European human rights standards in a letter sent to the president of the Italian Senate in December.  

Other international observers have expressed serious concerns about this bill, saying it could undermine the rule of law.