Italian police officers stand guard near the Excelsior Hotel Gallia, on the day of the expected arrival of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
ROME, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Italian police will be able to detain suspected troublemakers temporarily before street rallies to prevent them from spreading unrest under a new law-and-order decree adopted on Thursday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's rightist government.
The bill was drafted after a rally over the weekend by the hard-left in Turin in which more than 100 police officers were injured and nearly 30 protesters arrested, according to an interior ministry tally.
It was adopted on the eve of the opening ceremony for the February 6-22 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Officials have said they will be tightening security and preparing to deal with any protests against the presence of U.S. security officers.
"With the measures approved today we are strengthening the tools to prevent and combat widespread crime," Meloni said on X.
In Turin, some demonstrators threw bottles, stones and fireworks at police. Video footage showed an officer being attacked with sticks and a hammer.
Under the decree, which will come into force in the coming days, police will be able to hold suspected troublemakers in custody for up to 12 hours, to keep them away from protests.
The bill also includes measures against pickpockets, youth gangs, a ban on the sales of knives to minors, and greater self-defence guarantees for police officers and private citizens who respond to assaults.
The leader of the Green Left Alliance opposition party, Angelo Bonelli, said the bill was repressive and it would have been more effective to give the police more funds to fight crime.
He called preventive arrests "a serious violation of the constitutional right to demonstrate".
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi rejected criticism of the new arrest powers, saying similar provisions existed in other European countries.
(Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
