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IN PICTURES: Thousands of Italians march against racist and sexist violence

After the usually peaceful Italian town of Macerata was shaken by two violent crimes within a week, thousands of demonstrators turned out at the weekend to protest against racist and sexist violence.

Published: 12 February 2018 08:50 CET

IN PICTURES: Thousands of Italians march against racist and sexist violence

A banner reading 'Against fascism, racism, and sexism. Every day, in every city'. All photos: Tiziana Fabi&Marco Bertorello/AFP

People marched following the death and dismemberment of a local 18-year-old woman and a xenophobic drive-by shooting attack in which six people were injured.

The crimes highlighted the problems of gendered violence and xenophobia, with the suspected shooter saying he was driven to carry out the attack after hearing a Nigerian man had been arrested in connection with the woman's murder.

A poster reads 'stop fascist-racism, enough of playing with migrants' lives'.

Organizers said between 10,000 and 30,000 protesters turned out for the march following a call by NGOs, anti-fascist organization, unions and several leftwing political groups.

The town's mayor had earlier requested a halt to all public demonstrations, arguing that the city needed time to heal.

Other smaller rallies were held across the country as an act of solidarity.

Due to the high tensions in recent days, which have also seen far-right protesters clash with police at an unauthorized protest, shops shut early and schools were closed for the day in Macerata.

This resident put up heart-shaped balloons bearing the names of each of the victims of the shooting.

A man holds a flare in front of a banner reading “Movements against fascism and racism”.

The march came just three weeks ahead of a general election in which far-right parties are predicted to perform well.

This banner, made by a Florentine organization, reads 'no-one is clandestine'.

All photos: Tiziana Fabi and Marco Bertorello/AFP

Italy has most recovery fund fraud cases in EU, report finds

The EPPO reportedly placed Italy under special surveillance measures following findings that 179 out of a total of 206 investigations into alleged fraud of funds through the NextGenerationEU programme were in Italy, news agency Ansa reported.

Overall, Italy also had the highest amount of estimated damage to the EU budget related to active investigations into alleged fraud and financial wrongdoing of all types, the EPPO said in its annual report published on Friday.

The findings were published after a major international police investigation into fraud of EU recovery funds on Thursday, in which police seized 600 million euros’ worth of assets, including luxury villas and supercars, in northern Italy.

The European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, established to help countries bounce back from the economic blow dealt by the Covid pandemic, is worth more than 800 billion euros, financed in large part through common EU borrowing.

READ ALSO: ‘It would be a disaster’: Is Italy at risk of losing EU recovery funds?

Italy has been the largest beneficiary, awarded 194.4 billion euros through a combination of grants and loans – but there have long been warnings from law enforcement that Covid recovery funding would be targeted by organised crime groups.

2023 was reportedly the first year in which EU financial bodies had conducted audits into the use of funds under the NextGenerationEU program, of which the Recovery Fund is part.

The EPPO said that there were a total of 618 active investigations into alleged fraud cases in Italy at the end of 2023, worth 7.38 billion euros, including 5.22 billion euros from VAT fraud alone.

At the end of 2023, the EPPO had a total of 1,927 investigations open, with an overall estimated damage to the EU budget of 19.2 billion euros.

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