Sunday 15 December 2013

Penunjuk perasaan ‘Pitchfork’ bertembung dgn polis Itali yang dilanda minggu perhimpunan anti-penjimatan . . .

Pertembung pelajar dengan polis semasa bantahan terhadap kerajaan tempatan di pusat bandar Turin pada 14 Disember 2013. (AFP Photo/Marco Bertorello - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

SitiWanMahani -Penunjuk perasaan di beberapa bandar Itali telah bertempur dengan polis di tengah-tengah bantahan anti-penjimatan yang telah berlangsung selama hampir satu minggu. Apa yang dipanggil “Pitchfork” penunjuk perasaan yang berarak menentang pemotongan dan menyeru kerajaan untuk meletakkan jawatan.

Penunjuk perasaan melanda Rom, Venice, dan Turin pada hari Sabtu. Pelajar melem-parkan bom cat di polis di Turin, yang menjadi pusat protes. Bandar ini telah menyak-sikan bilangan terbesar pertempuran dengan penguatkuasaan undang-undang, dengan pegawai-pegawai yang menggunakan gas pemedih mata untuk menyuraikan penunjuk perasaan yang dilemparkan batu.

Penunjuk perasaan Turin juga menyekat trafik kereta api dan kereta api terhenti di stesen utama di bandar ini. Pemandu lori - membantah cukai yang tinggi dan harga minyak - dan pelajar membawa trafik terhenti maya awal minggu ini. Aktivis berkhemah di sebuah jambatan merentasi sungai bersempadan dengan Perancis, berhampiran bandar Ventimiglia, memaksa polis untuk melangkah masuk pihak berkuasa Bandar mengarah-kan pengukuhan dari pasukan keselamatan.

‘Pitchfork’ protesters clash with police as Italy hit 
by week of anti-austerity rallies

Protesters in several Italian cities have clashed with police amid anti-austerity protests which have lasted for almost one week. The so-called “Pitchfork” protesters are marching against cuts and calling for the government to resign.

Demonstrators hit Rome, Venice, and Turin on Saturday. Students threw paint bombs at police in Turin, which has been the epicenter of the protests. The city has seen the largest number of clashes with law enforcement, with officers using tear gas to disperse demonstrators who hurled stones.

Turin protesters also blocked rail traffic and stopped trains at the city’s main stations. Truckers - protesting high taxes and fuel prices - and students brought traffic to a virtual standstill earlier this week. Activists pitched tents on a bridge across a river bordering France, near the town of Ventimiglia, forcing police to step in. City authorities ordered reinforcement from security forces.

Seorang lelaki memegang bom asap semasa protes oleh pelajar-pelajar terhadap kerajaan tempatan di pusat bandar Turin pada 14 Disember 2013. (AFP Photo/Marco Bertorello - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

10 pegawai polis cedera ringan semasa perhimpunan Sabtu di Venice, menurut AFP. Pasukan keselamatan melepaskan gas pemedih mata sebagai penunjuk perasaan ‘far-right’ dan ‘far-left’ ditunjukkan berhampiran stesen kereta api. Dua orang telah ditahan.

Aktivis ‘far-right’ juga bangkit di luar pejabat Suruhanjaya Eropah di Rom. Memakai topeng bendera Itali dan nooses putih di leher mereka, mereka mengambil turun bendera Eropah dan kemudiannya dikejar oleh polis tempatan.

Perhimpunan merebak ke ibu negara pada hari Khamis, apabila beratus-ratus pelajar ber-tempur dengan polis dan melemparkan mercun di luar sebuah universiti di mana menteri-menteri kerajaan telah menghadiri persidangan.

Aktivis telah berjanji demonstrasi yang lebih besar di ibu negara minggu depan. Bantahan adalah yang dipentaskan yang di nama Forconi - atau pergerakan - Pitchfork, yang pada asalnya dianjurkan oleh sekumpulan petani Sicily.

Ten police officers were lightly injured during a Saturday rally in Venice, according to AFP. Security forces fired tear gas as far-right and far-left protesters demonstrated near a train station. Two people were detained. 

Far-right activists also rallied outside the European Commission's office in Rome. Wearing Italian flag masks and white nooses around their necks, they took down a European flag and were then chased off by local police.

The rallies spread to the capital on Thursday, when hundreds of students clashed with police and threw firecrackers outside a university where government ministers were attending a conference.

Activists have promised larger demonstrations in the capital next week. The protests are being staged in the name of the Forconi – or Pitchfork – movement, which was originally organized by a group of Sicilian farmers.

Pelajar memprotes kerajaan tempatan di pusat bandar Turin pada 14 Disember 2013. (AFP Photo/Marco Bertorello - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

“Terdapat berjuta-juta daripada kami dan kami semakin meningkat mengikut jam. Kerajaan ini harus untuk pergi,” Reuters memetik salah seorang pemimpin protes, Danilo Calvani sebagai berkata awal minggu ini.

Pemandu lori, petani, pemilik perniagaan kecil, pelajar, dan rakyat menganggur menen-tang dasar-dasar kerajaan dan penjimatan seperti Itali menghadapi pendapatan jatuh, pengangguran, kenaikan cukai, dan harga yang tinggi. Pengangguran telah mencecah rekod 41 % peratus bagi orang-orang di bawah umur 25 dan berlegar pada 12 % peratus untuk seluruh penduduk. Kebanyakan penunjuk perasaan yang mengutuk kapitalisme dan euro.

Sebagai penunjuk perasaan menyalahkan kemelesetan 2 tahun pada ahli-ahli politik, mereka menuntut kerajaan diganti dan parlimen dibubarkan.

14 anggota polis telah cedera sejak beberapa hari lalu. Kedai-kedai dan harta-harta lain yang telah rosak.

"There are millions of us and we are growing by the hour. This government has to go," Reuters quoted one of the leaders of the protests, Danilo Calvani, as saying earlier this week.

Lorry drivers, farmers, small business owners, students, and unemployed citizens are fighting against the government and austerity policies as Italy faces falling incomes, unemployment, tax hikes, and high prices. Unemployment has hit a record 41 percent for people below the age of 25 and is hovering at 12 percent for the rest of the population. Many of the protesters are condemning capitalism and the euro.

As demonstrators blame the two-year recession on politicians, they are demanding that the government be replaced and parliament be dissolved.

Fourteen policemen have been injured over the past several days. Many shops and other properties have been damaged.

Penunjuk perasaan A membaling batu semasa protes di pusat bandar Turin 9 Disember 2013. (Reuters/Stringer - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Pada hari Khamis, Menteri Dalam Negeri Angelino Alfano menyuarakan kebimbangan bahawa rusuhan itu boleh “membawa kepada lingkaran pemberontakan terhadap institusi kebangsaan dan Eropah.” Beliau memberitahu ahli parlimen bahawa walaupun kerajaan memahami “penderitaan rakyat miskin,” ia tidak akan membenarkan menerus-kan untuk keganasan.

“Kami berhasrat untuk mempertahankan kebebasan rakyat kami untuk hidup dalam keselamatan dan pekedai kami untuk menjalankan perniagaan,” katanya.

Alfano berkata kerajaan telah cuba untuk bercakap dengan penunjuk perasaan, tetapi setakat ini gagal kerana terdapat banyak kumpulan yang berbeza dan tiada pemimpin yang jelas.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano voiced concerns that the unrest could "lead to a spiral of rebellion against national and European institutions." He told lawmakers that although the government understood "the suffering of poor people," it would not allow the violence to continue.

"We intend to defend the freedom of our citizens to live in safety and of our shopkeepers to do business," he said.

Alfano said that the government has tried to talk with the protesters, but has thus far failed because there are many different groups and no clear leaders.


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