After coloring the waters of 11 Italian cities green last Nov. 22, the international environmental movement Extinction Rebellion has exposed alleged abuses by local authorities and law enforcement in several cities across the country. The action, which involved the use of fluorescein, a harmless tracer commonly used by hydrogeologists, attracted national and international media attention and raised a new front on the right to demonstrate in Italy, especially in a context marked by the closing of COP30 (the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change) in Brazil. Venice quickly became the center of controversy. According to reports from the movement, 37 people, including Greta Thunberg, have allegedly received complaints, sanctions, and an Urban Daspo, without any official notification having been delivered to those concerned. The movement challenged the legitimacy of the measures, pointing out the lack of formal communications and the absence of a real legal process.
“We find out in the press that 37 people were allegedly reported and removed from Venice for a crime that was never committed,” explains Alejandro of the Venetian group Extinction Rebellion. “We are at the paradox: the Questura carrying out orders from the government and becoming an instrument of political propaganda, issuing press releases about the legal consequences of private citizens, as in Greta’s case, without even informing those directly involved.”
“The police that day literally stole banners, flags and drums a few minutes after the start, without even issuing a report, thus violating the most basic constitutional rights,” says Paola, from Venice. “I had to go to the Questura myself to receive it, and we were not served with any charges. The news that is circulating on the pages of all the newspapers is the result of a precise strategy of political propaganda and polarization of public opinion. The waters of the Grand Canal have already returned to the way they were before, unlike the environmental damage caused by the policies of the Veneto Region, such as the works built for the Olympics or the pollution of the Marghera refinery.”
Similar situations reportedly occurred in other Italian cities. In Trieste, eight activists were reportedly taken to the Questura, detained for several hours and reported for unannounced demonstration, despite having regularly provided the documents required by law. In Bologna, on the other hand, the movement reports that only three people materially spilled fluorescein into the Moline Canal, but sixteen were fined 50 euros each for illegal dumping of waste. According to the movement, the most serious situation allegedly occurred in Rome, where eight protesters tell of being tailed, stopped, searched and, in two cases, taken to the Questura and reported without having taken any direct action during the protest. These incidents have fueled a heated debate on the balance between public order and freedom of demonstration in Italy.
“Garbage throwing?” says Veronica from Bologna instead. “Fluorescein is a salt regularly used to trace waterways. So either fluorescein is considered waste and at that point we sanction all divers and cavers in Italy, or the Bologna Police Headquarters is again carrying out orders and abusing its power.”
“None of us are under special surveillance, yet we continue to be tailed, taken to the Questura and detained for hours, without any crime having been committed,” comments Tommaso from Rome.
“The waters throughout Italy are back to the way they were before, polluted and contaminated. Those who govern us can continue to promote projects that irreversibly deface the landscape without this generating concern,” concludes Extinction Rebellion.
Parallel to the judicial developments, the protests have generated strong political reactions. Several members of the League and Fratelli d’Italia, including former Veneto president Luca Zaia and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, have publicly attacked the movement and Greta Thunberg. Indeed, several political figures have used terms such as “gretins,” “vandals,” and “criminals.” Some commentators have noted violations of electoral silence by some public speeches. The movement stresses that the fluorescein used was a temporary tracer with no environmental impact and reiterates the peaceful and nonviolent nature of the protests. At the same time, it denounces a management of the demonstrations that, according to Extinction Rebellion, presents major criticalities in terms of respect for democratic guarantees and citizens’ rights.
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| Extinction Rebellion colors Venice's canal water green: protests and complaints across Italy |
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