by In Trieste
No Italian city has seen more protests against the Green Pass than our Trieste where demonstrations were spearheaded by dockers a month ago.
Since then our city has emerged as the covid hotspot of Italy, amid concerns that the Friuli Venezia Giulia region could return to being a coronavirus ‘yellow zone’ with restrictions.
Italy’s interior ministry has issued an order clamping down on protests by the No Green Pass movement, with effect from this weekend. The move, first reported by newspaper Corriere della Sera, comes after weeks of disruption to residents and business owners by demonstrations in Trieste and other several Italian cities every Saturday evening.
Under the new measures brought in by interior minister Luciana Lamorgese, rallies will be severely restricted but not banned, with protesters will no longer permitted to enter historic centers or shopping streets.
From now on protests can only take the form of sit-ins, reports Corriere della Sera, unless there are “special requirements or guarantees” agreed in advance with authorities. The strict approach from the ministry is designed to “guarantee the rights of those who disagree while protecting the economic activities and the health of citizens”.
Trieste’s newly elected center-right mayor Roberto Dipiazza wasted little time in banning protests in the central Piazza Unità d’Italia last week, stating that the unrest has “damaged the image of the city and threatens to take us backwards.”
President of FVG, Massimiliano Fedriga stated that if our region was to become the ‘yellow zone’ he would push for a ubiquitous ban on protests, which were the reason Trieste has become covid hotspot in the first place.
