ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s Chamber of Deputies on Friday approved a government decree aimed at tightening sanctions against the organization of unregistered rave parties.
Giorgia Meloni’s government passed the decree in late October, just days after the President of the Italian Council was sworn in, after complaints about a Halloween party in northern Italy.
The new rules were approved by 183 MPs to 116.
Under the decree, people who encourage the “invasion” of properties to organize large-scale parties are liable to a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 euros if they the result is a “concrete danger to public health or safety”.
“For some time people have been coming from all over Europe to organize illegal gatherings with violence, drugs (…) because we allowed it, but normal nations do not allow people to devastate protected areas for fun,” Giorgia Meloni told a news conference on Thursday.
The opposition strongly contested the government’s decision. The government coalition had to call a vote of confidence at the beginning of the week to have the measure adopted by the Chamber of Deputies by cutting off the debate on the amendments.
Left-leaning parties, such as the 5 Star Movement, believe the penalties are too harsh and also criticize the executive order for including legislation on separate issues, such as abolishing COVID-19 vaccination mandates for older doctors. sooner than expected.
Former Turin mayor Chiara Appendino, a 5-Star Movement MP, on Friday called the decree an “abomination” which, in reality, “has little or nothing to do with rave parties”.
(Report by Angelo Amante; French version Jean Rosset, edited by Camille Raynaud)
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