G-8 Summit in Genoa: RSF denounces unprecedented attacks on the press
At least sixteen journalists seriously injured, counter-summit's media centre ransacked, detentions, confiscated materials, threats: RSF denounces the unprecedented attacks on the press

July 26 - 2001

In a letter to the president of the Council, Silvio Berlusconi, and the minister of the interior, Claudio Scajola, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) expressed its indignation following the attacks on the media in Genoa, on 21 and 22 July, during the police's repression of anti-globalisation protests.
"What took place in Genoa is unprecedented. Some of the police operations, which were incredibly violent, were planned and directed from within buildings in which the protesters and the press were resting or working, far from the unrest," said RSF Secretary-General Robert MÈnard. "The appalling violence, the ransacking of the press centre, the confiscation of materials and pictures ... did all of this stem from instructions from the minister of the interior and the president of the Council? We call for the immediate launch of an investigation, and the rapid identification of those responsible," added Mr. Mènard.
According to information collected by RSF, on 22 July 2001, at around 1:00 a.m., police forcibly entered the various buildings which housed anti-globalisation organisations and Indymedia, the network of anti -globalisation media outlets. The buildings in question had been set aside for these groups by the municipality of Genoa. Correspondents from the Italian daily Il Manifesto, the magazine Carta, the radio station GAP and other journalists were also working in these offices.
According to several eyewitness accounts, the police raid was extremely violent and many wounded persons were evacuated to various hospitals. Computers were either seized or smashed. Fifteen cameras were confiscated. The operation involved the mobilisation of a great many police units and several helicopters.
A British journalist, Mark Covell, who works for Indymedia, was reportedly seriously injured by police forces during the operation.
His life hangs in the balance today. At least fifteen other journalists were seriously injured in Genoa during the G-8 Summit, either by security forces or rioters. Domenico Affinito, journalist from Radio CNR and member of RSF Italy's board, was beaten by the police. Lorenzo Guadagnucci, journalist from the daily Il Resto del Carlino, was also beaten by the police and arrested during the attack on the press centre. He was hospitalised with a fractured arm and a head injury. Massimo Alberti, journalist from Radio Onda dÌ Urto and Radio GAP, was beaten by the police. His face was injured after his glasses were broken. He was held in custody for several hours without receiving treatment. Journalists Lorenzo Guadagnucci and Enrico Fletzer, from Radio K of Bologna, were also brutally beaten by the police. Sonia Fedi, cameraman from commercial television station Mediaset, was beaten by rioters from the "Black blocs" group. She was hospitalised with a leg fracture. Kerstin Wagenschein, a German journalist who works for the daily Junge Welt in Berlin, was arrested and is being held at the Voghera (north of Genoa) prison, awaiting a judge's order. On Sunday 22 July, four journalists signed a statement before Magistrate Francesco Pinto, testifying to the violent incidents which took place during the police assault on the anti-globalisation movements' press centre during the night of Saturday 21 July. The journalists included Luca Tomassini from the Digipress agency, French cameraman Philippe Blanchard, the chairperson of >Liguria's Order of Journalists, Attilio Lugli, and the head of the Ligurian Journalists' Union, Marcello Zipola.
Moreover, RSF called for those with eyewitness accounts of the Genoa events to step forward and announced that it would soon be sending a mission of inquiry to Italy. RSF will be seeking meetings with the president of the Italian Council and the minister of the interior during the mission.