371 arrested in Italy as police identify organizer of Movement 17 October
Nearly 5,000 people checked and 110 minors among the detained after police acted to block last‑minute rallies announced on Instagram.
Cities across Italy were placed under heavy police control after a day of protests that left 371 people arrested and nearly 5,000 checked by authorities. Officials reported 110 minors among those detained, and clashes and tensions were recorded on several city squares, though widespread looting seen last week did not recur.
The authorities credited a coordinated preventive operation for limiting the scale of violence. Security forces spent several days preparing to intercept sudden, last-minute demonstrations announced by the newly created Movement 17 October.
Key breakthrough before planned rallies
The decisive moment in the police operation came just before 14:30, when rally locations that had been due to appear on social media were prevented from being published after investigators say they identified the alleged chief organizer on the movement’s Instagram account.
Suspicions focus on Yusef Sicher, a 30-year-old second-generation Italian of Moroccan origin who lives in the province of Brescia. Sicher, who holds advanced studies in geopolitics and a doctorate and works as a freelance journalist, was taken to a police station and is under investigation.
Prosecutors have opened inquiries into serious incitement to commit a criminal offense for purposes of terrorism and the use of computer systems; according to investigators, Sicher could be formally arrested in the near future.
Photo: ANSA)
