A law enacted by Giorgia Meloni’s government that punishes organisers of illegal raves with hefty jail terms has triggered widespread criticism in Italy, with one opponent describing the measure as “a freedom-killing monster”.
A three-day-long Halloween party in Modena was the catalyst for the swift enactment of legislation that will punish organisers or promoters of gatherings that put public order or safety at risk with prison sentences of between three and six years and fines ranging from €1,000 to €10,000. Penalties for those who participate in what the decree describes as an “invasion” have not been outlined, but they will be less severe.
The law applies to gatherings involving 50 or more people that “arbitrarily invade other people’s land or buildings”, raising fears that this would give power to authorities to potentially crack down on peaceful protests.
Getting tough on raves was a campaign policy of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist roots, and its far-right coalition partner the League, which is led by the deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.
Fourteen young people, including a Dutch citizen, are under investigation after the interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, ordered the eviction on Sunday of more than 3,000 revellers at an illegal rave that had been taking place in an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of the Emilia-Romagna city of Modena. The event was organised via social media, attracting participants from overseas.
During her first press conference as prime minister on Monday, Meloni referred to a six-day-long rave in the Viterbo area in Lazio last summer, during which one person died.
“With the rave rules we are no different from any other European nation,” she said. “When there was the famous Viterbo rave, it struck me that thousands of the people who arrived in Italy to wreak havoc had come from all over Europe because the impression of Italy in recent years has been one of laxity in terms of respecting rules. Now Italy is no longer the nation in which one can commit a crime; there are rules and they are being enforced.”
But the hardline measure has been criticised by opposition politicians, unions and Amnesty International Italia.
Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party, said it was “a serious error” that puts citizens’ freedom “at risk”, while Giuseppe Conte, who leads the Five Star Movement, described it as “horrifying” and akin to one “from a police state”.
Riccardo Magi, the president of the small leftwing party More Europe, described the law as having “a Putin flavour”.
Alessandro Zan, a politician with the Democratic party, said the measure was an attack against article 17 of the Italian constitution, which gives citizens “the right to assemble peacefully and without arms”.
“The Meloni government has established that if 51 people gather together they risk six years in prison,” said Zan. “Their first act is a freedom-killing monster … raves are just the excuse – the goal is to suppress demonstrations in schools, universities and squares.”
Vinicio Nardo, the president of the order of lawyers in Milan, also said the law put article 17 in danger, while Amnesty International Italia said: “It risks having a discretionary and arbitrary application to the detriment of the right to peacefully protest.”
