ITALY

The Italian Senate unanimously passed a law making femicide a separate crime punishable by life imprisonment. Presented by the government on 8 March, the opposition also supported the bill, whose approval thus shows apparent unity.

However, there is criticism. The law is seen as propaganda for Meloni’s far-right government: it focuses solely on repression rather than prevention. There is no specific training for educators or financial assistance for victims.

According to the law, femicides are an ‘act of hate discrimination against the victim for being a woman or as a result of her refusal to enter into or maintain a relationship.’

Last year in Italy, a woman was the victim of femicide every three days; half were killed by their (ex)partner. The government attempted to exploit the murders for its own political ends.

[Source: Malditaultraderecha]

They began earlier this week over detention conditions: during the night between Sunday and Monday, some people detained in Unit 7 of the center set fire to furniture and furnishings. The following night, activists from the anti-CPR network report, it was the turn of Units 2, 3, and 6. Further fires were started again on Tuesday afternoon. Each time, inmates climbed onto the roof of the facility to avoid breathing in the smoke.

Yesterday, the Bari Prefecture issued a statement denying a report that had emerged in recent days, namely that a detainee who had sustained injuries during the protests, suffering fractures to his limbs, had not been treated. “He was immediately rescued and transported to the local emergency room, where he received all the necessary medical care,” the prefecture stated. Despite this, activists and a regular visitor report that crutches and wheelchairs are not permitted inside the CPR, which would make their stay very difficult. Furthermore, during the protests, which law enforcement intervened to quell, one person was reportedly taken to solitary confinement, while another Tunisian detainee was reportedly arrested in connection with the uprising. This is the second such arrest in just a few weeks. At the beginning of July, the detainees had also protested for several days, for the same reasons put forward in recent days: spoiled food, high temperatures, lack of care and, above all, the long periods of detention, which are often not even followed by repatriation.

AT THE SAME TIME , in the Gradisca d’Isonzo CPR (Prisoner for Refugees) in Friuli, the “Never Again Camps – No to CPRs” network has been reporting the spread of scabies among inmates for weeks. The first reports arrived in early June, with photographs of inmates suffering from itchy blisters on their limbs and trunks, symptoms consistent with scabies. Initially, the prefecture, in a statement dated June 19, denied the presence of any cases, reporting that the inmate in the published photos had been found, following several examinations, to have an allergy that had caused the blisters. Then, on July 14, a person was released because he was unfit for treatment. Following a medical examination, the Local Health Authority (ASL) wrote, “Scabies is being reported.” Finally, two days ago, on July 23, the prefecture responded to another report, writing that after “some guests complained of symptoms consistent with scabies” and “once the presence of compatible lesions was detected,” the protocol established for the case was activated, consisting of disinfecting the premises and “preventive measures to contain the infection.” Contacted by the manifesto, the prefecture denied the hypothesis of an epidemic, reporting that there are 71 people in the center and that only a few are showing symptoms consistent with scabies.

“THE WAY the problem is being handled seems to be simply to hide the scabies,” says Nicola Cocco, an infectious disease specialist and expert in prison medicine, who had already sent a report to the CPR in June. “It’s at least strange to say that there are isolated cases, occurring together, perhaps in contact with a positive person. Scabies is transmitted very rapidly, especially in confined spaces and places with poor hygiene and sanitation,” Cocco continues. “Under the Lamorgese directive, all people with or suspected of having scabies should have been declared unfit for detention, as it is an infectious disease contagious to the community.”

One hundred and fourteen thousand euros spent every day to detain twenty people between mid-October and the end of December 2024. This is the financial assessment of the first phase of the Albania project, focusing on asylum seekers from “safe countries,” outlined yesterday by ActionAid and the University of Bari. They wrote: “Operation Albania is the most costly, inhumane, and useless instrument in the history of Italian migration policies.” In all, the managing body, Medihospes, received 570,000 euros for the detention of those migrants. Food and lodging for police personnel cost 528,000 euros. The facilities were operational for five days.

All asylum seekers, in fact, remained behind Albanian bars for just a few hours, released by judges who deemed their detentions in violation of European law. The rulings and subsequent referral to the European Court of Justice (the ruling will arrive on August 1st) prompted the government to initiate the next phase: the deportation of “irregular” immigrants from Italian territory.

Meanwhile, in Gjader, the number of places has increased to 400. “Setting up one available place in Albania cost over 153,000 euros,” write ActionAid and UniBari. Seven times more than in Italy. Extraterritorial detention appears “completely irrational and illogical,” according to ActionAid migration expert Fabrizio Coresi, especially since at the end of 2024, out of 1,164 places actually available in Italian CPRs, 263 were empty.

The spending figures have brought back the opposition, which had recently become somewhat distracted from the Albania project, especially when asylum seekers were replaced by “irregulars” (the exception being Democratic MP Rachele Scarpa, who has maintained constant monitoring and holds a record number of inspections across the Adriatic).

The Ministry of the Interior considers this waste of public money a “fundamental investment” for a model widely appreciated in Europe, “a concrete, structured, and effective response that, once fully implemented, will drastically reduce reception costs and speed up repatriations, aligning with the new European regulations that will come into force next year.”

Another interesting aspect of the report concerns the number of repatriations. Last year, those carried out by the CPRs reached their lowest level since 2014. The annual average tended to hover around 50% of the total detainees, but in 2024 it dropped to 41.8% (2,576 detainees out of a total of 6,164). This is despite one of the government’s flagship measures increasing the maximum administrative detention period from three to eighteen months. This is despite the fact that last year the cost of the detention system spiraled out of control: nearly 96 million euros for the 11 active facilities, more than the total spent in the previous six years, when it had not reached 93 million.

Another worrying factor is the changing purpose of this particular deprivation of personal liberty, which occurs without the person having committed a crime. The number of asylum seekers in CPRs is increasing: last year, they accounted for 45% of all detainees. “The use of detention as a tool of asylum policy marks a momentous paradigm shift, raising serious questions about the objectives of an instrument with such an impact on people’s fundamental rights,” says University of Bari researcher Giuseppe Campesi.

Meanwhile, on July 15 , the Supreme Court of Cassation, the office reviled by the government for its critical reports on the security decree and the Albania law, published an opinion on the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court regarding the CPRs. This ruling “confirms but does not declare” the centers’ unconstitutionality. Citing decisions by the Courts of Appeal of Cagliari, Rome, and Genoa, which had incidentally cited the ruling while freeing three asylum seekers for other reasons, the Supreme Court’s technical office affirmed that the provisions on administrative detention remain in the legal system, even though it acknowledged the lack of a law regulating the “methods” of detention.

Therefore, they cannot be disregarded. This is also because the ruling is addressed to the legislature, not the judges. The latter are left with the option of raising new questions of constitutional legitimacy, pointing out parliament’s inertia.

[Source: Osservatorio Repressione]

Criminal shield for agents returns, League proposal discarded by Security decree

The League is back at it again with a proposal for a criminal shield for agents, and it is doing so through several of its exponents.

A short time ago, through his facebook profile, Matteo Salvini declared: the League is formalizing a proposal to be brought to Parliament, according to which a guardian of order who, in the exercise of his profession, strikes, injures or kills someone who has been the protagonist of a criminal act, cannot and should not be investigated.

It was then the Leghist undersecretary, Nicola Molteni, who first relaunched the proposal: “Proximity to the investigated policemen (…) After the economic legal protection of up to 10 thousand euros for five stages of trial introduced in the security decree, we now need immediately the procedural protection that is neither a criminal shield nor an instrument of impunity. Stop the automatism in the inclusion of the register of suspects for police officers and uniformed workers who act in the performance of duty to ensure the safety of citizens,” the League member said in a note.

That proposal was also immediately welcomed by other Carroccio and Fdi exponents, who asked in chorus the Viminale’s titular Matteo Piantedosi-one of the three signatories of the old Dl 1660, which became a decree and was finally converted into law at the beginning of June-to take up again that provision of the Security Decree that had been shelved in January, and had been branded as inadmissible by all the technicians. On the minister’s part, the intention to rework that text is there.

Last in order of declaration, Nordio exclaimed, “Soon a rule to exclude on-duty officers from the register of suspects.”
The Minister of Justice illustrates to the House the plan the majority is working on to protect investigated officers who have committed crimes in the performance of their duties: “We need a radical reform of the automatic entry in the register of suspects.

Is there anything more to add? STOP THEM, STOP THE STATE OF POLICE AND WAR !

[Source: Insta]

Last Tuesday, the Bologna investigating judge filed an order requesting the inclusion in the register of suspects of the deputy commissioner who ordered a complete body search of one of the Extinction Rebellion activists following a nonviolent demonstration at Palazzo d’Accursio in Bologna. The judge emphasized that :

“The search in question must be considered to have been carried out outside the cases provided for by law; and in any case, in a manner that rendered it unlawful. […]

“In a democratic state, there can be no room for public order management based on abuse and intimidation, which are increasingly frequent in Italian police headquarters and public squares by order of the government.”

[Source: Radio Onda d’Urto]

At first light (yesterday ed.), a hundred policemen in riot gear surrounded the Bosco di Ca’ Alte. Barricades, chained bodies, an activist suspended in a tree, fire hydrants and bulldozers in action: in the heart of Vicenza, the HST construction site is advancing, but thanks to today’s resistance…

There is a border, in Vicenza, where two visions of the future clash: on one side is the High Speed Railway, a symbol of modernity, infrastructure and major works. On the other, an urban forest of 14,000 square meters, full of trees, silence and biodiversity. Today, that border is called Ca’ Alte. And it is about to be erased.

In the heart of the Ferrovieri district, the TAV – Treno Alta Velocità/Alta Capacità project has reached its most concrete and impactful phase: lot 2, which connects the city’s western entrance to the station, will involve the construction of a large portion of the urban fabric. Entire neighborhoods will be involved – San Lazzaro and Ferrovieri first and foremost – and two of the city’s great green lungs will also be affected, along with residential buildings and public areas: the Lanerossi Woods and the Ca’ Alte Woods.

The latter, for decades, has represented a space of balance between the city and nature, between concrete and oxygen. But its fate would seem sealed: it will be torn down to make way for a vehicular overpass that will connect the Ferrovieri district with Viale Milano and the SVT bus station area, bypassing the tracks. One of the most invasive collateral works in the project.

Not everyone, however, has passively accepted this transformation. About a year ago, a group of female citizens started a spontaneous movement: the Woodland Assembly, now part of the larger network of Woods that Resist. Their goal? To defend the forest for its ecosystem, climate and social value, but also for its impact on collective health.

For months they have been organizing meetings, debates, public events and presidia. They lived in the forest, built barricades, platforms, moments of culture and sharing. A liberated space, where they experienced another way of being together, of caring for the territory. But now all this is at risk.

Chronicle of the clearing (updated)

At first light, IRICAV2 – the consortium led by WeBuild in charge of the construction – officially kicked off the operations to clear the area. Right from the start, a massive deployment of law enforcement surrounded the area: over twenty vehicles and a hundred officers blocked all the main entrances, garrisoning Via Maganza, Via Ca’ Alte and Viale Fusinato. The area was quickly cordoned off as tensions began to rise.

Meanwhile, activists organized to resist. Some chained themselves to the access gates, others climbed onto the elevated platforms or positioned themselves on the barricades built in the previous months. On Maganza Street, at the height of number 41, the only point still accessible to the outside was formed: there arose a spontaneous garrison of solidarity, animated by neighborhood residents, students, parents, ordinary people who rushed to bring support and witness what was happening.

Attorno alle 9:30 del mattino, le forze dell’ordine hanno iniziato a rimuovere le attiviste e gli attivisti che, fin dalle prime ore dell’alba — circa dalle 6:00 — presidiavano seduti e incatenati davanti ai cancelli di accesso all’area. Una volta completata la rimozione dei corpi a terra, è stato aperto un varco nel cancello principale che conduce al bosco, consentendo ai vigili del fuoco di iniziare le operazioni per sgomberare le piattaforme sopraelevate, dove altri attivisti si erano posizionati in segno di protesta.

Verso mezzogiorno, gli occupanti della prima delle strutture rialzate sono stati fatti scendere, uno a uno, con l’impiego di un camion dotato di braccio meccanico. In seguito, con l’ausilio di una ruspa, le forze dell’ordine sono riuscite a sfondare definitivamente il cancello di ingresso, penetrando con decisione nell’area boschiva.

In the early afternoon, around 2 p.m., the last elevated platforms were taken down, again by bulldozer intervention. In parallel, about 30 activists were transferred to the police headquarters. Law enforcement action continued with the entry into the inner area of the garrison, where the remaining people were pushed back with the use of a fire hydrant.

One presence still resists in solitude: an activist stands about 15 meters above the ground, clinging to an old cedar tree destined for felling in the first phase of the construction work.

Despite the power of the operation and the massive deployment of forces, the resistance has not folded. In and out of the woods, the voices of those defending Ca’ Alte continued to be heard, loud, persistent, present. And thanks to the determination of those who, in various forms, opposed the advance of the bulldozers for many hours, the police stopped at the embankment: for today, no trees fell.

[Source: Infoaut]

Marco Mezzasalma is a BR-PCC (Red Brigades – Communist Fighting Party) militant who was arrested in October 2004.

He has been subject to the 41bis solitary confinement regime for twenty years. As they do every four years, the judges decided to renew his placement in 41bis, a regime likened to torture. Officially, this decision is based on the verification of possible links with the outside world.

The people who look after him know full well that such contacts are practically impossible. In reality, they also fear the resistance of prisoners such as Marco Mezzasalma, Nadia Lioce, Roberto Morandi and Alfredo Cospito.

“By refusing to capitulate, [they] remain political subjects of meaning and value for the oppressed and exploited classes, bearers of an irrepressible hope for revolution and liberation. This is what the state’s torturers fear, this is what they would like to annihilate, to destroy, in order then to display the surrender and submission of those who have carried the class struggle to its highest levels, as proof of the invincibility of the system and the impossibility of revolution,” emphasize the Milan, Turin and Rome sections of Secours Rouge International in a press release published on July 3, 2025.

[Sources: Osservatorio Repressione, Secours Rouge]

In the early hours of Wednesday June 25, an anarchist’s home was searched in Massarosa (Lucca province), in connection with the investigation by the Bologna public prosecutor’s office into the burning of two railway police cars in Rimini on April 20, 2023 (see here ). The action had been carried out in solidarity with the Chilean ananrchists Monica and Francisco, who were about to go on trial for several bomb attacks in Santiago de Chile, and with Alfredo Cospito, who had just ended a six-month hunger strike.

The charges were articles 423 (arson), 270 bis par. 1 (subversive association with the aim of terrorism), 110 (participation in a felony or misdemeanor) and 635 (damage to property).

Fifteen anarchists from various regions of Italy are under investigation. The following day, still at dawn, police officers went to the home of another anarchist for a search in connection with some tags that had appeared in the Massa courthouse during one of the Scripta Scelera trial hearings under art. 639 of the penal code (light damage and defilement).

[Source: Secours Rouge]