Call for directive to prevent episodes like Duomo demonstration in Milan from happening again
ROME – Places of worship, supermarkets and shopping malls will join public institutions, political party headquarters and diplomatic premises as being off-limits for demonstrators. Organisers will also have to pay a deposit as a guarantee against damage.
NEW RULES – Interior minister Roberto Maroni has proposed new rules for public demonstrations, revealing that he is working on a directive to be sent to prefects and chiefs of police.
A week ago, the minister explained to a hearing of the Senate’s constitutional affairs committee why there was a need to review public order regulations for events that attract thousands of people into the streets. He made specific reference to the prayers by hundreds of Muslims in Milan’s Piazza Duomo during the pro-Gaza march.
He said: “Demonstrations like the recent ones for Palestine pose new questions with respect to what we were used to. In the past, we prevented marches from passing various kinds of premises, including those of political parties. It’s now time to assess whether marches should pass places of worship”. Mr Maroni added that “there is no wish to offer a repressive response but it is necessary to give full implementation both to the right to demonstrate and to the right of non-demonstrators to use their own town”.
NO MORE DUOMO INCIDENTS – The proposal was reiterated at question time in the Lower Chamber when Mr Maroni replied to a question by Riccardo De Corato, the deputy mayor of Milan, who wanted to know what initiatives the minister was taking to prevent similar situations in future.
Mr Maroni replied: “I have drafted a directive so that episodes like the demonstration outside the Duomo in Milan will not happen again”
