MEP Benedetta Scuderi Warns of Normalised Protest Repression in Europe
Italian Green MEP Benedetta Scuderi has warned that the repression of protests is becoming normalised across Europe, following her own detention by police in July near a far-right protest in Brussels calling for “re-migration.” She told EUobserver that the rise of the far-right is threatening European democracy, which had previously allowed people to protest. “Now, we only let certain people express their dissent,” she said.
Scuderi highlighted a double standard in how different protests are treated. While farmers were allowed to bring tractors to the parliament, she said, twenty people staging a sit-in for Palestine in front of the parliament had their heads smashed. In Italy, she added, fascist protests are ignored by police. She also noted that inside the European Parliament, colleagues can say Muslims are a threat without consequences, but leaving the building with a Palestinian flag makes one “a terrorist.” Scuderi argued that the EU needs to accept dissent and distinguish between discriminatory speech and legitimate protest, rather than banning all symbols. She warned that violence is increasing towards activists all over Europe, but only targeting a certain kind of activist.
