Italian state President Mr Carlo Azeglio Ciampi yesterday called for "full light" to be thrown on the violent events surrounding the recent G8 summit in Genoa. Mr Ciampi was adding his voice to the growing body of Italian public opinion demanding a full inquiry into allegations of police brutality in the wake of two days of street riots which saw one person killed and 231 injured: "I hope and I expect that a full light will be thrown on what happened at Genoa. That is what all Italians want, without distinction," Mr Ciampi said yesterday.
The head of state's call for a thorough investigation comes one day after a number of prominent Italian Catholic Church figures, including the Archbishop of Foggia, Dr Giuseppe Casale, the Archbishop of Ivrea, Dr Luigi Bettazzi and the Archbishop of Acerra, Dr Antonio Riboldi, and representatives of Pax Christi condemned the violence in Genoa: "Having seen the images of brutal and savage violence on the part of many policemen and carabinieri, we ask what does this dangerous tendency come from . . . many policemen attacked ordinary people, families with their children, young people, students and voluntary social workers, as if they were punishing the expression of ideas unacceptable to someone.
"The church and Christians cannot remain silent . . . especially when we have reports that even Down's sufferers, old people and members of religious orders were all victims of the violence," the bishops' statement said.
In response to the growing concern about the Genoa riots, both in Italy and abroad, the Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, last weekend continued his defence of the security forces while adding that the six ongoing inquiries into the riots would ascertain any wrongdoings on the part of the police and military: "However, I, like the vast majority of Italians, am on the side of the security forces, men who with courage and at great risk to themselves defended law and order, the state and all its citizens," Mr Berlusconi said. Meanwhile, it is expected the Interior Minister, Mr Claudio Scajola, will today release the results of an inquiry into some of the most controversial happenings in Genoa, including a midnight police raid on the headquarters of the anti-globalisation movement, the Genoa Social Forum.