62
GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT
the demonstrators and causing the demonstrations to degenerate. Despite
that, several criminal incidents, often unrelated, had occurred in different
parts of the city. Considerable precautions had been taken against a possible
deterioration of the situation. However, no authority – “without the help of a
clairvoyant” – could have predicted exactly when, where and how violence
would break out and in what directions it would spread.
235. While denying the existence of any shortcomings imputable to the
State which could be connected to the death of Carlo Giuliani, the
Government drew the Court's attention to the following points.
236. The change of plan on 19 July 2001 which had given the
carabinieri a more dynamic role had been justified by the evolving situation
and the demonstrators' increasingly aggressive behaviour.
237. There was nothing to show that the selection and training of
personnel had been defective. The training received by M.P., D.R. and F.C.
had included basic technical training when they were recruited and further
courses on public-order operations and use of the equipment issued. In
addition, M.P., D.R. and F.C. had acquired considerable experience at
sporting and other events. Ahead of the G8 summit all the personnel to be
deployed in Genoa, including the three above-mentioned carabinieri, had
taken part in training sessions in Velletri at which experienced instructors
had dispensed advanced training in public-order techniques (see paragraphs
108-109 above). Furthermore, as the State had deployed approximately
18,000 officers on the ground (see paragraph 141 above), it would be
unrealistic to expect that all the police officers and carabinieri would
belong to elite units.
238. In the Government's submission, the communications system
chosen by the carabinieri had had no bearing on events on Piazza
Alimonda. The jeeps had not been armoured (but had been equipped with
metal grilles protecting the front windscreen and the driver and front
passenger windows) because they were merely logistical support vehicles
not designed for operational use in a public-order setting. That was why the
side windows at the back and the rear window were not fitted with grilles.
Moreover, the demonstrators had managed to set fire even to a fully
armoured vehicle (see paragraph 20 above). The jeeps had followed the
carabinieri who were engaged in clashes with demonstrators most probably
on the drivers' initiative and to avoid being cut off, which would have made
them an easy target for aggressive demonstrators.
239. M.P. had had a loaded pistol because, although he had finished
firing tear gas, he had to be able to defend himself in the event of an attack.
Had that not been the case it was likely that he, rather than the attacker,
would have died.
240. As to why the law-enforcement officers who had been close to the
jeep had not intervened, the Government observed that the carabinieri at the
scene had just withdrawn under an attack by demonstrators and thus needed
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