ITALY: Activists protest outside detention centre as G8 leaders meet in L'Aquila

Record ID: 1533332

  • Title: ITALY: Activists protest outside detention centre as G8 leaders meet in L'Aquila
  • Date: 10th July 2009
  • Summary: PONTE GALERIA, ITALY (JULY 9, 2009) (REUTERS) DETENTION CENTRE GROUPS OF RIOT POLICE PATROLLING AROUND DETENTION CENTRE POLICE IN RIOT GEAR TAKING POSITION NEAR TRAIN STATION VARIOUS OF POLICE IN RIOT GEAR TAKING POSITION HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS ARRIVING AT TRAIN STATION NEARBY IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING FOR PROTEST POLICE IN UNIFORM AND PLAIN CLOTHES POLICE WATCHING PROTEST FROM DETENTION CENTRE PROTESTERS CARRYING LARGE CARDBOARD TELEVISION CAMERA WITH WORDS 'LIE TV' WRITTEN ON SIDE PROTESTERS ANGRILY SHOUTING AT MEDIA (Italian): "You tell a whole load of lies. Go and tell everyone what happens inside that detention centre." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS ARRIVING NEAR DETENTION CENTRE POLICE ON SCENE PROTESTERS CARRYING BANNER READING: "Red cross are the colleagues of concentration camp commanders." POLICE NEARBY
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2009 12:24
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5D5HRQ5Q2QHTSG8YU7PGUML1M
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Activists gathered outside a detention centre in Ponte Galeria, 16 kilometres south of Rome on Thursday (July 9) to draw attention to what they call 'inhumane' conditions inside the centre which is used to hold illegal immigrants.
    A large number of plain clothed and riot police were on the scene patrolling close to the centre in order to ensure that the hundreds of protesters did not get close to the outer walls. The protesters had called their action to coincide with the G8 meeting of world leaders taking place in L'Aquila.
    Demonstrators carried a huge television camera with the words 'Lie Tv' written on the side and angrily abused media on the scene saying they did not tell the real story about how bad the conditions in detention centres such as that at Ponte Galeria were.
    'You tell a whole load of lies. Go and tell everyone what happens inside that detention centre' they shouted.
    Since coming to power last year, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has taken a tough stance on immigration, controversially making it a crime to be an illegal immigrant.
    It plans to double the number of holding camps run by the Red Cross for migrants to 20 from 10 and has renamed them "Identification and Expulsion Centres".
    One inmate in the Ponte Galeria centre is believed to have committed suicide last month due to the poor conditions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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