At least 60,000 mourn G8 'martyr'

At least 60,000 people attended a rally to remember a 23-year-old shot dead at last year's G8 demonstrations

GENOA, Italy (Reuters) -- Tens of thousands took to the streets of Genoa on Saturday to remember the "martyr" of the anti-globalisation movement, a protester shot dead by police during last year's meeting of the Group of Eight leaders.

Carlo Giuliani, 23, was killed during violent clashes between police and demonstrators that left another 300 injured and prompted widespread accusations of police brutality.

On the first anniversary of the Genoa G8 summit, police said about 60,000 activists and well-wishers converged on the northern Italian city to honour the memory of Giuliani and to inject fresh energy into the anti-globalisation movement.

At 5:27 p.m. (1527 GMT), the time that Giuliani was shot by a young policeman as he tried to throw a fire extinguisher into a paramilitary police jeep, the crowds broke into a prolonged cheer and released hundreds of coloured balloons into the sky.

"This is not a funeral. We wanted to have a celebration of life, of the right to live and of so many rights that are denied in the world and in Italy," Giuliani's father said in the piazza where his son was shot.

All day, demonstrators streamed through the square, leaving flowers and messages at a makeshift altar to their martyr. In the early evening, thousands marched peacefully through the city waving red flags.

Organisers said up to 100,000 people had turned out for a main march and other demonstrations, but police put the figure closer to 60,000 -- still twice as big as expected.

For many, the Genoa G8, which drew some 250,000 protesters, marked a high point in the grassroots movement that started at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle in 1999.

But it was the violence and the images of Giuliani's blood-stained body lying in the square where he was killed that grabbed most headlines.

During the summit, rioters caused widespread damage to the city, torching cars, smashing shop windows and raining bottles and petrol bombs onto police lines.

Human rights groups have criticised the government for failing to address the police brutality, but the clashes and the anti-globalisation movement itself have been partly forgotten since the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Still, Genoa's mayhem prompted world leaders to shift later summits to remote, well-protected locations.

A year after Genoa, activists said Saturday's huge turnout showed the anti globalisation movement was alive and well.

The mood was cheerful as balloons and jugglers filled the piazzas and the day ended with concerts, dancing and drinking.

There were a few tense moments between protesters and some of the 3,000 police on hand, but no violence was reported.

"Carlo (Giuliani) is alive and fighting alongside us. Our ideas won't die," said Vittorio Agnoletto, Italy's leading anti-globalisation activist.