Death of Carlo Giuliani

Carlo Giuliani (March 14, 1978 -- July 20, 2001) was an Italian anarchist who was shot and killed by police during the demonstrations against the Group of Eight summit that was held in Genoa from July 19 to July 21, 2001. Carlo Giuliani was born in Rome, the son of Giuliano Giuliani, a CGIL trade union activist, and Haidi Giuliani, today a Senator for the Communist Refoundation Party.

Genova 2001

He was killed on July 20 2001, during a violent clash between protesters and Italian Carabinieri in Piazza Alimonda, in the Genoa downtown. A Carabinieri vehicle became stuck and some protesters (wielding metal poles and wooden boards) attacked the car. In the midst of this clash, Carlo Giuliani, who was wearing a blue ski mask, picked up a fire extinguisher,allegedly intending to throw it at the officers inside the police Land Rover Defender, he was shot in the face at point blank range by one of the officers.

Trial

All charges against the Carabiniere who shot him, 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", and ruled that he had acted in self-defense, without taking the case to trial.

During a later trial held in Genoa in order to process some demonstrators allegedly involved in the clashes that occurred the same day Giuliani was killed, however, the very same forensic doctor, professor Marco Salvi, that had been a consultant to the prosecutor Silvio Franz, charged with the inquiry against Mario Placanica, testified that Giuliani had been the victim of a "direct hit", thus contradicting the decision previously made based on the alleged deviation of the bullet in mid-air. The conclusion of Judge Daloiso, which had already been subject of strong criticism, was therefore challenged by the press, once again, as was the decision not to charge the driver of the Land Rover on the basis that Giuliani was already dead when run over; medics tending to Giuliani after he was run over testified that his heart was still beating, and this was confirmed by professor Marco Salvi during the aforementioned trial. Had it been concluded that Placanica shot Giuliani in self-defense, a trial would have been necessary, but the conclusion that the bullet was not fired directly at Giuliani removed the need for any trial.

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 not from the vehicle, but from somewhere in the piazza outside. After making this statement, Placanica was involved in a "suspicious" car accident, days after allegedly observing someone tampering with his car. Placanica was also allegedly kept in seclusion following the incident, and his parents were not allowed to visit him in the hospital.

A symbol

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

The anarcho-punk band Conflict released a song in his memory, titled "Carlo Giuliani". [1] Spanish ska band Ska-P remembers Carlo through their song titled "Solamente por pensar" (Only for thinking) [2] and then adapted its lyrics to Italian for a concert in Italy entitling it "Solamente per pensare" (same title translated to Italian) [3]. 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.

The English anarchist pop group Chumbawamba wrote English lyrics to the traditional World War II anti-fascist Italian partisans song Bella Ciao after visiting Genoa during the G8 summit meeting. The song[4] was dedicated to Carlo Giuliani.

Another song titled "Carlo Giuliani" [5], by the Irish folk-punk band Lynched, sets lyrics to a somewhat haunting tune about the incident. A soundbite at the end of the song, of an Irish activist speaking about Giuliani, goes, "Carlo Giuliani was not a hero. He was not a martyr. He was one of us." Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini wrote a song about Carlo Giuliani and the G8 summit incidents, named "Piazza Alimonda" (the place where Giuliani was shot) and included in his album Ritratti of 2004. He is mentioned also in the new e-single Riot by Italian rapper/producer Nesli. The lyrics "Lascio in pace i morti come Carlo Giuliani" which roughly translated means "I leave the dead, like Carlo Giuliani, to rest in peace"
Croatian anarcho punk band AK-47 also have song titled Carlo Giuliani.
Slovenian anarcho band Aktivna Propaganda talk of him in their song Senza Frontiere (Without borders)

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 burnt twice because it has been set on fire. Another memorial, instituted upon request and at the expense of his parents, features simply the words "Carlo Giuliani, boy." Another plaza, in Bern, Switzerland, has also been named "Carlo-Giuliani Platz" in memoriam; the renaming took place during a memorial art exhibition called The Geometries of Memory.

In 2007 the Communist Refoundation Party renamed its Presidency Office in the Italian Parliament after Carlo Giuliani. Giuliani's mother, Haidi, was elected Senator for the party in the 2006 election with the goal of starting a parliamentary inquiry commission into Carlo's death.

Giuliani has been described as "a Genovese hooligan" on p. 224 of Gary Shteyngart's Absurdistan.

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