(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 29 October 2002 RSF letter to Italian President Silvio Berlusconi: Paris, 29 October 2002 Mr. President, Reporters Without Borders asks you to do everything possible to ensure that the European Social Forum that is to be held in Florence from 6 to 10 November is not marred by any […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 29 October 2002 RSF letter to Italian President Silvio Berlusconi:
Paris, 29 October 2002
Mr. President,
Reporters Without Borders asks you to do everything possible to ensure that the European Social Forum that is to be held in Florence from 6 to 10 November is not marred by any repetition of the violence that took place at the G-8 summit in Genoa in July 2001.
Nineteen journalists covering the G-8 summit and anti-globalisation protests were physically attacked by security forces or demonstrators from 20 to 22 July 2001.
Reporters Without Borders was outraged by the behaviour of the Italian police. The police used appalling violence in their raid against the press centre on the night of 22 July. The various buildings housing the anti-globalisation associations, the Indymedia network and many news organisations were forcibly stormed by the police. Three journalists were hospitalised in critical condition and several others were injured, brutally kicked by police or hit with police batons or shields. Computer and camera equipment was confiscated or destroyed.
Those shocking events are engraved in the memory of the victims and all those who, like Reporters Without Borders, cherish human rights and press freedom.
Italy has the means to maintain order in a way that is compatible with the security of both demonstrators and journalists covering these international gatherings. We urge you to take all necessary measures to ensure that the European Social Forum in Florence is not the occasion for any more such excesses, which are unworthy of a democracy.
Sincerely,
Robert Ménard
Secretary-General
