GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT
19
charge by demonstrators against the carabinieri. The charge had been led
by demonstrators throwing anything that came to hand, followed by others
carrying containers and rubbish bins for use as mobile barricades. The
atmosphere on the square was described as “frenetic”, with the
law-enforcement agencies coming under attack from a crowd which was
advancing, throwing missiles and immediately picking up new ones. The
carabinieri, for their part, were firing tear gas, but a contingent was
eventually forced to retreat towards Piazza Alimonda, where one of the two
jeeps accompanying them found itself hemmed in and surrounded by
demonstrators. The latter, brandishing iron bars and other objects, began
hitting the jeep, and the rear window was soon smashed. The author of the
account heard two shots and could see the hand of one of the two
carabinieri inside the jeep, holding a firearm. When the jeep drove off and
the noise died down, he saw a young man with serious head injuries lying
on the ground. The author also described the anger of certain demonstrators
on learning that a demonstrator had died.
84. The investigating judge observed that the description by the
anonymous demonstrator tallied with the findings of the investigation,
according to which, at around 5 p.m., a group of demonstrators had gathered
in Via Caffa at the junction with Via Tolemaide, erecting barricades using
rubbish bins, supermarket trolleys and other objects. From behind this
barricade the group began throwing large numbers of stones and hard
objects at a contingent of carabinieri who, having been stationed originally
on Piazza Alimonda at the corner of Via Caffa, had begun to move forward
in a bid to stop the demonstrators, whose numbers had increased in the
meantime. Two jeeps, one of them driven by F.C. and with M.P. and D.R.
on board, joined the contingent of carabinieri; however, the demonstrators
charged violently, forcing the contingent to retreat. The jeeps reversed
towards Piazza Alimonda, where one of them collided with a refuse
container. In a matter of moments, the demonstrators surrounded the
vehicle, hitting it using all available means and throwing stones. As the
audiovisual material in the file showed, the jeep's windows were smashed
with stones, iron bars and sticks. The unrelenting nature of the
demonstrators' attack on the jeep was described as “impressive”. Some
stones struck members of the carabinieri in the face and the head and one
demonstrator, Mr Monai, thrust a long wooden beam through one of the
windows, with the result that D.R. sustained bruises and grazing to his right
shoulder.
85. One of the photographs showed M.P. kicking a fire extinguisher
away; this was very probably the metal object which had caused severe
bruising to his leg. Successive photographs showed a hand holding a
weapon above the jeep's spare wheel while a young man (Carlo Giuliani)
reached down to the ground and picked up a fire extinguisher, in all
likelihood with the intention of throwing it at the jeep's rear window. At that