Family remembers G8 protester

Giuliani was never violent, according to his father

GENOA, Italy -- The protester killed in clashes during the summit of leading industrialised nations in Italy was a non-violent person, his father said.

Carlo Giuliani, 23, was shot by an Italian police officer during anti-globalisation protests in the Italian city of Genoa as world leaders met 2 kilometres away on Friday.

His father was quoted as saying his son was a non-violent person who did not put up with injustices, Reuters news agency said.

"Carlo could not put up with injustices, he was a peaceful boy, never violent," the Genoa daily Il Secolo XIX quoted Giuliano Giuliani as saying.

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A Genoa police spokeswoman said Giuliani was killed by a paramilitary policeman after demonstrators attacked a police jeep.

News agencies and Italian media, quoting police sources, said Giuliani had a criminal record.

He lived in the Genoa area but was homeless and did not have a steady job, the police spokeswoman told Reuters.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper said police used Giuliani's mobile phone to help identify him as he was not carrying any documents when killed, Reuters reported.

Interior Minister Claudio Scajola confirmed on Friday that the demonstrator was killed during a clash with paramilitary police, "presumably" by an injured trooper.

"What we can say is that the fatal incident happened during a violent attack against a Carabinieri vehicle which resulted in injury to several troopers inside," the minister said.

Giuliani, bending over (obscured by person in foreground), wearing a white shirt and dark pants, picking up a red canister (top) and lying on the ground after being shot

"The young demonstrator was hit by a shot from a gun, presumably fired in defence by one of the wounded policemen."

Italian prosecutors opened a homicide investigation on Saturday against the paramilitary officer involved in the fatal shooting.

The proceedings will determine whether murder or manslaughter charges should be brought, or whether the officer was acting in self-defence.

Violent clashes continued on Saturday, but some activist groups announced they were withdrawing from a planned march because of the death.

This is the first death during anti-globalisation protests which have become a regular event at international gatherings since the 1999 clashes at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle.