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HOMELESS

Morandi bridge displaced to march on Genoa

Genoans made homeless by the collapse of the Morandi motorway bridge will protest for the first time on Monday, following reports that their emergency supplies funds could be blocked.

Published: 4 October 2018 12:30 CEST
Morandi bridge displaced to march on Genoa
A view of the Morandi Bridge on August 15, 2018. Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP

The bridge collapsed during a storm on August 14th, killing 43 people and making hundreds more homeless.

The inhabitants of the so-called “Red Zone” near the bridge have been unable to re-enter their homes to collect their clothes and belongings.

A committee that represents the displaced had requested contributions of €10,000 per person from bridge operator Autostrade per l’Italia to supply their immediate needs.

Autostrade had responded that it would provide up to €15,000 per person, with the caveat that the funds would be administered through the government’s Regional Strategic Interventions Program, PRIS, which oversees major public works construction.

CCTV footage of the bridge's collapse

READ ALSO: Genoa residents left shattered after collapse of Morandi Bridge

But since the newly-published “Genoa Decree” which will govern the rebuilding of the area excludes Autostrade from participating in the reconstruction efforts, it is no longer guaranteed that the company will have any involvement with PRIS, putting the residents' funds at risk, reports La Stampa.

An ongoing investigation seeks to determine responsibility for the collapse of the bridge, which was built from reinforced concrete in the 1960’s and required numerous repairs over the following decades.

Autostrade insists that it met all its obligations in maintaining the bridge and is not implicated in the disaster.

But Italy’s government has made it clear that it considers Autostrade to bear the bulk of the responsibility for the tragedy, and has repeatedly said it intends to revoke the state’s contracts with the motorways operator.

READ ALSO: 

PROTESTS

Calls for special police tactics to be available across Sweden

The chairwoman of the Police Association West Region has said that police special tactics, known as Särskild polistaktik or SPT, should be available across Sweden, to use in demonstrations similar to those during the Easter weekend.

Published: 24 April 2022 15:56 CEST
Calls for special police tactics to be available across Sweden

SPT, (Särskild polistaktik), is a tactic where the police work with communication rather than physical measures to reduce the risk of conflicts during events like demonstrations.

Tactics include knowledge about how social movements function and how crowds act, as well as understanding how individuals and groups act in a given situation. Police may attempt to engage in collaboration and trust building, which they are specially trained to do.

Katharina von Sydow, chairwoman of the Police Association West Region, told Swedish Radio P4 West that the concept should exist throughout the country.

“We have nothing to defend ourselves within 10 to 15 metres. We need tools to stop this type of violent riot without doing too much damage,” she said.

SPT is used in the West region, the South region and in Stockholm, which doesn’t cover all the places where the Easter weekend riots took place.

In the wake of the riots, police unions and the police’s chief safety representative had a meeting with the National Police Chief, Anders Tornberg, and demanded an evaluation of the police’s work. Katharina von Sydow now hopes that the tactics will be introduced everywhere.

“This concept must exist throughout the country”, she said.

During the Easter weekend around 200 people were involved in riots after a planned demonstration by anti-Muslim Danish politician Rasmus Paludan and his party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), that included the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

Police revealed on Friday that at least 104 officers were injured in counter-demonstrations that they say were hijacked by criminal gangs intent on targeting the police. 

Forty people were arrested and police are continuing to investigate the violent riots for which they admitted they were unprepared. 

Paludan’s application for another demonstration this weekend was rejected by police.

In Norway on Saturday, police used tear gas against several people during a Koran-burning demonstration after hundreds of counter-demonstrators clashed with police in the town of Sandefjord.

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