Ken Loach, Fo sign against Valsusa High Speed Train line

VIPs back no-global appeal to 'Permanent People's Tribunal'

(ANSA) - Turin, June 18 - UK director Ken Loach and Nobel literature laureate Dario Fo are among intellectuals supporting an appeal filed Tuesday to a Permanent Tribunal of Peoples (TPP) against the high-speed TAV train line being built through the Alpine Valsusa area, organisers say.

Also among those signing the protest organised by the Valsusa Counter-observatory movement headed by retired magistrate Livo Pepino were French economist Serge Latouche, sociologist Luciano Gallino and designer Ellekappa. So-called 'No-TAV' protesters have staged demonstrations for years to try and halt the work on the high-speed rail connection in the Alpine pass, arguing that it will upset the ecological balance in the area.

The appeal is believed to be the first of its kind in Italy or Europe to the TPP, an independent body that issues opinions and rulings on cases of suspected systematic violations of human rights. "The situation in Val Susa raises fundamental questions of democracy and the respect for human rights," Pepino said.