Rome: The police conducted searches across Italy on Monday against 17 anti-vaccine activists who were allegedly affiliated with a Telegram chat that espoused violence against government, medical and media figures for their perceived support of Covid-19 restrictions.
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Police in Turin said the “Basta Dittatura” (Enough of the Dictatorship) chat had tens of thousands of members and was a prime forum for organising protests against Italy’s health pass.
Like many European countries, Italy requires people to show their so-called Green Pass to dine indoors, visit museums and cinemas and for long-distance public transport. The pass shows proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or having been cured of Covid-19.
Protests have grown more acute after Italy last month became the first western country to also require the pass to access workplaces.
In a statement on Monday, the police said they monitored the now-shuttered Telegram chat for weeks and identified 17 extremists, who threatened Premier Mario Draghi, among others.
“Other recurring targets were also the police, doctors, scientists, journalists and other public figures accused of enslavement and collaboration with the dictatorship in place,” the statement said.
Nearly every weekend has featured anti-vaccine and anti-green pass protests in Italy, including one October 9 in Rome in which extremists trashed the headquarters of Italy’s main labour union. A protest this past weekend in Milan featured the American anti-vaccine activist, Robert F Kennedy.
Italy, where the coronavirus outbreak first erupted in Europe in February 2020, is seeing a steady increase in its daily caseload amid a new wave of infections. The authorities registered 62 cases per one lakh inhabitants last week, the third consecutive week of increased incidence. But Italy for now is doing better than many other western European countries.