Giuliano Pisapia

Giuliano Pisapia (; born 20 May 1949) is an Italian lawyer, politician, former mayor of Milan, former member of the Italian Parliament and member of the European Parliament. As a politician, he has been a member of two left-wing parties, first Proletarian Democracy and then the Communist Refoundation Party; in Milan's mayoral election, he was endorsed by a large left-wing coalition, after winning the primary election of the centre-left coalition with the strong support of Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom. As a lawyer, he participated in a number of notable trials with political implications, including that of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the trial that followed the death of anti-global activist Carlo Giuliani, shot by the police during the 27th G8 summit. Biography Giuliano Pisapia is the son of lawyer Gian Domenico Pisapia, who has contributed to the definition of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure of 1989. In the 1970s he joined Proletarian Democracy, a far-leftist party. He attended the Liceo classico "Giovanni Berchet" in Milan. After being a volunteer in the Red Cross and a student in Medicine, a worker in a chemical factory, a teacher in the Beccaria youth detention center, and an employee in a bank, he finally turned to political and law studies, getting a double degree in Political Sciences and Law, and joining his father's firm. Pisapia's actitivity as a lawyer was strictly related to his political commitment, as he took part in a number of trials with explicit political implications. For example, he represented Arnaldo Forlani in the Tangentopoli scandal era, activist Ovidio Bompressi in the trial for the murder of Luigi Calabresi, the family of anti-global activist Carlo Giuliani (shot dead by the police during the 27th G8 summit), as well as the daughter of Davide Cesare ("Dax"), killed by a neonazist in 2003. He also participated in international trials, most notably in defense of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish militant organization PKK.