Death of Giorgiana Masi

Death of Giorgiana Masi
	A view of Ponte Garibaldi, where Masi died
Date	May 12, 1977
Location	Ponte Garibaldi, Rome
Cause	Hit by a .22 caliber bullet to the abdomen
Outcome	No indictment
Deaths	1

Giorgiana Masi (August 6, 1958 – May 12, 1977) was an Italian student and activist killed during a protest in Rome on May 12, 1977, under unclear circumstances.

Background

The climate

The violent political climate which characterised Italy in the 1970s was greatly noticeable in Rome as well. On February 17, 1977, clashes erupted at the Sapienza University, when the student movement (including members of Indiani Metropolitani and Autonomia Operaia) violently opposed a speech by CGIL secretary Luciano Lama.[1] On March 12, during a widely attended protest march, gunfight between police officers and demonstrators was narrowly averted. On April 21, autonomist students tried once again to occupy La Sapienza; when police came to clear them, they responded with Molotov cocktails and gunfire. In the confrontation which followed, police officer Settimio Passamonti was killed and three other officers were injured.[2] The following day, Minister of the Interior Francesco Cossiga announced a city-wide ban on all public demonstrations, which was to last until the end of the month.[3]

The victim

Born on August 6, 1958, Giorgiana Masi lived with her parents and older sister in via Trionfale, Roma, near the San Filippo Neri hospital. In 1977 she was attending fifth and last year of Liceo scientifico "L. Pasteur". A member of the Radical Party and feminist activist, on May 12, 1977 Masi was attending the radical sit-in together with boyfriend Gianfranco Papini.[4]

Incident

Plaque in memory of Giorgiana Masi on the Ponte Garibaldi in Rome

On May 12, 1977, the Radical Party and the far-left organization Lotta Continua held a sit-in in Piazza Navona, Rome. The demonstration aimed at protesting recent measures banning public manifestations; celebrating the third anniversary since the divorce referendum; and collect signatures supporting the upcoming referendums on party financing and public order. Activists were joined by students from the Movement of 1977 and members of Autonomia Operaia, some of which were armed. About 5000 law enforcement agents gathered as well, supported by plainclothes officers hidden through the protesters' ranks.[2]

Several incidents broke out during the afternoon, since 2 pm, when piazza Navona was closed to traffic by police; incendiary bombs, tear gas and gunshots were fired. Around 7 pm, mediation efforts by some members of Parliament appeared to have made a safe evacuation of the demonstrators possible, towards the rione of Trastevere through Garibaldi Bridge. Nevertheless, as the evacuation began, incidents got more serious: gunshots and smokebombs were fired. Police were lined up on the northern part of the bridge, on the side of via Arenula, while protesters were running away southwards, toward Piazza Belli. At 7:55 pm, in the turmoil, bystanders saw Giorgiana Masi fall to the ground, as if tripping over, and be put in a car to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She had been shot in the back with a .22 caliber gun.[5]

Though the author of the killing is unknown to this day, Marco Pannella and his Radical Party supported on several occasions accusations against Minister of the Interior Francesco Cossiga as the moral responsible of Masi's death, stressing the presence of armed undercover agents among the protesters. Cossiga used to send the accusation back to Pannella, supposedly guilty of holding the demonstration despite the well-known related risks.[6][7]

gollark: I agree.

gollark: Which seems quite understanding-y.

gollark: The subjective experience of a language model experiencing "humor" is not very testable, but PaLM can apparently explain jokes.

gollark: They don't have enough gollark joke training data. Such a shame.

gollark: And?

References

Caprara, Maurizio (February 17, 2017). "17 febbraio 1977, Lama contestato alla Sapienza dal Movimento studentesco". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
"L'omicidio di Giorgiana Masi, 40 anni fa". Il Post. May 12, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
"Atti parlamentari - Camera dei Deputati. Seduta di martedì 22 febbraio 1977" (PDF). Camera dei Deputati. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
De Mauro, Giovanni (May 17, 2012). "Maggio". Internazionale (949). Retrieved May 9, 2020.
"Libro bianco del Partito Radicale sull'uccisione di Giorgiana Masi e sui fatti del 12 maggio 1977: "Cronaca di una strage"". Radicali Italiani. April 1979. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
"Giorgiana Masi, la verità di Cossiga. "Forse uccisa dai suoi compagni"". la Repubblica. May 17, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
Cazzullo, Aldo (January 25, 2007). "«Non rimanderei i blindati in piazza. Molti autonomi finirono nelle Br»". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Caprara, Maurizio (February 17, 2017). "17 febbraio 1977, Lama contestato alla Sapienza dal Movimento studentesco". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[Il_Post-2] "L'omicidio di Giorgiana Masi, 40 anni fa". Il Post. May 12, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[3] "Atti parlamentari - Camera dei Deputati. Seduta di martedì 22 febbraio 1977" (PDF). Camera dei Deputati. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[4] De Mauro, Giovanni (May 17, 2012). "Maggio". Internazionale (949). Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[5] "Libro bianco del Partito Radicale sull'uccisione di Giorgiana Masi e sui fatti del 12 maggio 1977: "Cronaca di una strage"". Radicali Italiani. April 1979. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[6] "Giorgiana Masi, la verità di Cossiga. "Forse uccisa dai suoi compagni"". la Repubblica. May 17, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2020.

[7] Cazzullo, Aldo (January 25, 2007). "«Non rimanderei i blindati in piazza. Molti autonomi finirono nelle Br»". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved May 9, 2020.