Baku-APA. Police have taken a hard line vis-à-vis anti-austerity demonstrators in the Italian capital of Rome and engaged in clashes amid week-long protests, APA reports quoting Press TV.
On Saturday, protesters set ablaze garbage bins outside the Finance Ministry and hurled eggs and firecrackers at the building sparking clashes, which saw at least 11 people arrested.
The so-called “Pitchfork” protesters are marching against cuts and calling for the government to resign for failing to contain unemployment, which has topped a record 41 percent for under-25-year-old youth and is hovering at 12 percent for the rest of the population.
Similar clashes also broke out outside the headquarters of the city’s railway company as well as the ministries of Infrastructure and Transport.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Rome to protest against harsh spending cuts the government has imposed to meet its deficit target.
Demonstrations were also underway in Venice and Turin, where students threw paint bombs at police, whose officers used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who hurled stones.
Ten police officers were slightly injured during a Saturday rally in Venice, according to local media reports.
The protests are being staged in the name of the Forconi – or Pitchfork – movement, which was originally organized by a group of Sicilian farmers.
"There are millions of us and we are growing by the hour. This government has to go," one of the protest leaders, Danilo Calvani, was quoted as saying earlier this week.
Lorry drivers, farmers, small business owners, students, and unemployed citizens are fighting against the government and austerity policies as Italy faces falling incomes, unemployment, tax hikes, and high prices. Many of the protesters are condemning capitalism and the euro.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
