Death of Carlo Giuliani

Carlo Giuliani (14 March 1978 – 20 July 2001) was an Italian anti-globalist who was shot dead by a police officer during the demonstrations against the Group of Eight summit that was held in Genoa from July 19 to July 21, 2001.

Incident

Death of Carlo Giuliani. Carabiniere's firearm can be seen in the top right of the left-hand photograph. In between these photos, a shot has been fired to Giuliani and the police vehicle has run over his body twice.

Carlo Giuliani, born in Rome, was the son of Giuliano Giuliani,^[1] a CGIL trade union activist, and Haidi Giuliani, who after his death would become a Senator for the Communist Refoundation Party. On July 20, 2001, Giuliani was participating in a protest against the 27th Group of Eight summit in Genoa, Italy, when he was killed during a violent clash between protesters and Italian Carabinieri in Piazza Alimonda. A Carabinieri vehicle, with two masked officers inside, became stuck and was attacked by protesters (wielding metal poles and wooden boards). In the midst of this clash, Giuliani, who was wearing a blue ski mask, picked up a fire extinguisher, intending to throw it at the vehicle. He was shot in the face at point-blank range. The Land Rover then drove once backwards and once forwards over Giuliani's body.

Trial

All charges against the Carabiniere who shot Giuliani, Mario Placanica, were dropped, when the judge presiding over the case concluded that the fatal bullet that struck Giuliani was not directly aimed at Giuliani and had "ricocheted off plaster",^[2] and ruled that he had acted in self-defense, without taking the case to trial.^[1]

However, during a later trial in Genoa of some demonstrators allegedly involved in clashes the same day Giuliani was killed, the same forensic doctor, professor Marco Salvi, who had been a consultant to Silvio Franz, the prosecutor who led the case against Mario Platanito, testified that Giuliani had been the victim of a "direct hit", thus contradicting the decision previously made based on the alleged mid-air change of direction of the bullet. The conclusion of Judge Daloiso, which had already been subjected to strong criticism, was challenged by the press, as was the decision not to charge the driver of the Land Rover for running over Giuliani on the basis that he was already dead. Medics tending to Giuliani after he was run over testified that his heart was still beating,^[3] and this was confirmed by professor Salvi during the trial in Genoa.

To confuse the situation further, in late 2003 Placanica told the Bologna daily Il Resto Del Carlino that "I've been used to cover up the responsibility of others." He claimed that the bullet found in Giuliani's body was not of the caliber or type fired by the pistols of the Carabinieri, and claimed the deadly shot had come from somewhere in the piazza outside.^[4] After making this statement, Placanica was involved in a "suspicious" car accident, days after allegedly observing someone tampering with his car.^[5] Placanica was allegedly kept in seclusion following the incident, and his parents were not allowed to visit him in the hospital.^[3]

On August 25, 2009 the European Court of Human Rights notified in writing its judgement in the case of Giuliani and Gaggio v. Italy. It judged no excessive use of force was used and it was not established that Italian authorities had failed to comply with their positive obligations to protect Carlo Giuliani’s life. The Court did judge Italy has not complied with its procedural obligations in connection with the death of Carlo Giuliani and has awarded a total of 40.000 euro in non-pecuniary damage to the three applicants.^[6] In 2010, the case was referred to the Court's Grand Chamber on appeals from both sides;^[7] the Grand Chamber has held in 2011, that there had been no violation of the European Convention, although seven judges from seventeen dissented.^[8]

Legacy

• Carlo Giuliani has become a symbol of civil unrest during the G8 summit in Genoa.

• Various musical groups have paid tribute to Carlo Giuliani through songs or dedications: i.e. the English group Chumbawamba dedicated their version of the traditional World War II anti-fascist Italian partisans song Bella Ciao to Giuliani and the anarcho-punk band Conflict released a song in his memory, titled "Carlo Giuliani". In other examples the Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini in 2004 wrote a song about Carlo Giuliani and the G8 summit incidents, named "Piazza Alimonda"; Giuliani is also mentioned in a song by Italian rapper Nesli.

• The North-American "Outspoken Word Troupe" of political poets published a piece entitled "A Tale of Two Giulianis" contrasting Carlo to former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

• Piazza Alimonda, the plaza where Giuliani was killed, was unofficially renamed "Piazza Carlo Giuliani" by activists, who erected a memorial there for mementos, photographs, writings and flowers. This memorial has since been set on fire twice. Another memorial, instituted at the expense of his parents, features simply the words "Carlo Giuliani, boy."

• In 2007, the Communist Refoundation Party renamed its Presidential Office in the Italian Parliament after Carlo Giuliani. Giuliani's mother, Haidi, was elected Senator for the party in the 2006 election specifically to begin a parliamentary inquiry into Carlo's death. After the exit from the parliament of PRC by the result of 2008 election, the name was changed.

• In 2002, Francesca Comencini directed a documentary film titled Carlo Giuliani, ragazzo about the shooting. It was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.^[9]

• The 2005 film Dot.Kill directed by John Irvin described the Giuliani slaying as causing violent anti-globalist splinter groups to proliferate, as a possible motive for the online slayings of CEOs portrayed in the film.

External links

• Guardian Unlimited article "Violence Erupts Again in Genoa"
• Photos showing the sequence of events in detail
• Counter investigation by Pillola Rossa in Italian
• Summary of the evidence by Lello Voce in English; photographs
• Website dedicated to investigating Giuliani's death

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Genoa protester case dismissed". BBC News. 2003-05-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3002469.stm. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
2. ^ John Hooper (2003-08-06). "Genova officer in 'suspicious' car crash". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1012910,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Piazza Carlo Giuliani
4. ^ (Italian)"La verita di Placanica: "Il colpo è partito dalla polizia in piazza"". 2006-12-02. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070929153827/http://ilrestodelcarlino.quotidiano.net/art/2006/12/02/5449677. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
5. ^ Guardian
6. ^ European Court of Human Rights
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ ECtHR GC judgment on application no. 23458/02
9. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Carlo Giuliani, Boy". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3157401/year/2002.html. Retrieved 2009-11-01.