Progressive organizations in Italy condemned the imprisonment of Fabiola De Costanzo, an activist of the movement against the Turin-Lyon high speed Railway project (No TAV Movement) in Turin. On Thursday, December 31, Fabiola, who was already serving a sentence of house arrest, was arrested and imprisoned for her involvement in a No Tav initiative called “Oggi Paga Monti” in 2012. The No TAV Movement and Potere al Popolo (Power to the People) protested the imprisonment of Fabiola De Costanzo.
On December 30, an Italian court convicted three No TAV activists for their role in the agitation in 2012. In addition to Fabiola, veteran communist Nicoletta Dosio (who already finished serving her sentence) and the movement’s spokesperson Dana Lauriola (now in prison) were convicted.
Speaking to Peoples Dispatch, members of Potere al Popolo (Power to the People) recalled that the “Oggi Paga Monti” [Today Monti pays, referring to the prime minister Mario Monti whose government was a key driver behind the project] movement was a peaceful movement. The activists had removed some of the equipment from toll booths on the Turin-Bardonecchia motorway in order to allow motorists to pass through without paying the toll. The company operating the booths,
The No TAV movement began in the Susa Valley of Italy in 1990 in opposition to the proposed Turin–Lyon high-speed/high-capacity railway project, the TAV (Treno ad Alta Velocità). The movement questions the viability, cost, and safety of the project and its actualization, and condemns it for being driven by European construction lobbies. Instead of the high speed rail project, the No TAV movement advocated for upgrading the existing infrastructure.
No TAV has condemned the arrest of Fabiola. It said that the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office never misses an opportunity to issue warrants during the holidays, “a moment that all of us would like to be with our loved ones.” The movement hailed the contributions of Fabiola to the struggles in the region.
Potere al Popolo (Power to the People) said that “The accusation of the state against those who have been resisting an absurd and harmful project like the TAV for 30 years is against the democratic right to exercise dissent.”
Progressive sections had protested and organized demonstrations across Italy against the arrest of the 73 year old Nicoletta Dosio on December 30, 2019.
