In Florence, police prevented students, union representatives and members of the Palestinian community from reaching the United States consulate.
In Pisa, they charged students trying to enter Piazza dei Cavalieri, the location of the main university campus that had been cordoned off. Five students have ended up in hospital as a result of the brutal treatment.
Italy’s association of university deans CRUI on Saturday said it was concerned about the allegedly heavy-handed policing, and said the right to demonstrate must be preserved.
CRUI said it “observes with concern what is happening in several Italian cities” and stressed “the constant commitment of universities to favour peaceful dialogue and the co-existence of opposing theses, which is the very nature of scientific research as an academic mission”.
The deans concluded by saying that “the right to demonstrate represents one of the most important conquests in the history of western democracy and as such it must be guaranteed and preserved”.
The police chain of command is now the focus of a criminal probe into the incidents, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors in Pisa added they had examined video footage of the clashes which showed some officers repeatedly hitting demonstrators over the head with their truncheons.
The priority in the case is to establish who took policing decisions that day and above all to discover who gave the order to baton-charge the students with such vehemence.
Judicial circles expressed their intention of proceeding quickly in order to restore a climate of serenity in the city after the political rows over the allegedly heavy-handed policing.
ANSA
