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Orlando Criticizes Government Response to Pro-Askatasuna Demonstrations, questions Public Order Management
A former Italian Minister of Justice has sharply criticized the government’s handling of recent demonstrations and subsequent arrests, alleging a disconnect between rhetoric and effective public order management.The comments came after a Turin judge released three individuals arrested following violent clashes during a pro-Askatasuna march last Saturday.
Political Context and Initial Reactions
The release of the arrested demonstrators, described as “violent” by some reports, has ignited debate over the government’s approach to maintaining order. A senior political figure,speaking on the La7 television broadcaster’s Omnibus program,suggested the situation was “predictable” and that law enforcement was inadequately prepared.
“In the so-called broad field I believe that there are all the conditions,if we work on it,for a unitary resolution with two points of reference wich are the condemnation of violence and also the concern for the defense of constitutional principles,” the official stated. “It seems to me that on this line there are all the conditions for the entire opposition to converge, also hearing the statements I have heard in recent days.”
Concerns Over Political vs. Police Management
The core of the criticism centers on what the official described as a failure to adequately politicize the response to the Askatasuna eviction. The official argued that as the initial eviction was a political decision, preventing further demonstrations should have been approached with the same level of political foresight and strategic planning.
“Why, in the face of a predictable intricate situation, have the women and men of the police force been left in such a delicate situation, when management should have been predominantly political?” the official questioned. “And since the eviction of Askatasuna was political, the construction in some way of preventing that square must also have been political.”
Accusations of Incompetence and Exaggeration
The official went on to accuse the current government of prioritizing public order rhetoric over actual public order management. “This is a government that talks about public order, but does not know how to manage public order,” they asserted. “It mainly talks about it, uses uniforms as a flag, but in the end it is indeed not capable of doing what must be achieved on a daily basis.”
furthermore, the official dismissed attempts to frame the situation as a broader threat to national security, suggesting the government was inflating the issue to deflect from its own shortcomings. “Talking about terrorism is somehow a way of building an alibi, of making a real problem much bigger than it is to justify one’s inability to deal with it,” they explained. “This seems to me to be the line that has been followed.”
Judicial Independence and Future Investigations
Despite the strong criticisms, the official expressed confidence in the independence of the italian judiciary. “Thank goodness there is still a judiciary that maintains its autonomy,” they said. “I believe it will emerge,but from this point of view I am not going to cast shadows or evoke conspiracies,I will simply say that the story is being exaggerated in some way to justify its own inadequacy.”
The official
