As one of her first government decisions, Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni introduced a law making it a crime to “invade land or buildings for meetings of more than 50 people which are dangerous to public order or public safety or public health”.
The law provides for penalties up to six years in prison and possibility intercept communications those who organize or attend mass electronic music parties, known as “raves”.
The measure, called on the Internet “the party is over”, also proposes confiscation of musical equipment used in “raves”. It also foresees fines of 1,000 to 10,000 euros for those who “organize or promote” the gathering.
The decree comes after Italian police busted an illegal Halloween party held in an abandoned warehouse in Modena, Italy, last weekend. The rave was supposed to end on Tuesday, but the police stopped it a day earlier. They attended the party thousands of young people from Europe.
Meloni justified the decree by claiming that it would help restore order in Italy. “The impression that the Italian state has left in recent years is one of laxity when it comes to respecting rules and laws,” the prime minister said.
During the press conference, the Prime Minister also recalled the “rave” that took place in Viterbo, which lasted for six days and left a dead person.
The Italian political opposition criticized the decree, calling it a “the monster that kills freedom”. Also, he warned that the new crime could be applied to other series of concentrations and demonstrationssuch as student protests at institutes or universities.
“Youth condemned to the stakereacted the writer Erri de Luca defending multi-day free and free music events.