For the first time, a crime of association has been hypothesized against the activists of the "Last Generation", the environmentalist movement which has made itself known in recent years for glaring protest actions such as road blocks, chains, soiling of buildings and historical monuments such as the
Barcaccia fountain in Rome
and
Palazzo Vecchio in Florence
.
The public prosecutor of Padua raised the crime of criminal conspiracy, after more than two years of investigations conducted by the Digos of the Police Headquarters on some actions carried out and attempted in the Euganean city, also thwarting an attack more of a political nature, to the local branch of the League.
The Digos investigations began in 2020, when numerous posters signed by another environmental collective, "Extinction Rebellion", appeared in some shop windows in the city center, belonging to large clothing chains, criticizing investments in "big destructive business".
From the examination of public and private video surveillance, the agents have come to identify a young man, resident in the city, in whose home a search was carried out.
The young man was considered "one of the promoters and organizers" of the environmental movement in the city, which held periodic meetings in a public park in Padua, which have been monitored over time.
The group later made itself known for some blockages to road traffic, occasions in which the State and Local Police avoided violent reactions from motorists.
On 21 August last year the most striking blitz was held, with the chaining of four militants inside the
Scrovegni Chapel
, where the extremely delicate cycle of frescoes by Giotto is kept.
One of them read aloud protest messages against the waste of water and energy, then the police intervened by cutting the chains with shears and forcibly dragging the demonstrators out of the chapel.
In September, however, the police prevented the spraying and disfigurement of the regional headquarters of the League during the last electoral campaign.
The activists, tailed by Digos, were stopped by the carabinieri, who intervened to protect the confidentiality of the investigations.
The latest action in chronological order was that of three activists, members of the "Let's not pay for fossils" campaign, who blocked a street near the University's Mathematics and Economics departments for 15 minutes.