The Lazio Regional Administrative Court (Tar) has annulled the decree of the Italian Ministry of the Interior that had denied citizenship to a 48-year-old Indian worker for his participation in a strike in VeronaThe decision, announced in recent days, mandates that the ministry grant citizenship to the worker.
The man was investigated in December 2024 for private violenceafter blocking vehicle access during a picket line. The Public Prosecutor's Office closed the case, but the citizenship application was ultimately rejected by the department.
The worker has lived in Italy for over ten years with his family. He had joined a strike organized by the Sinco cooperative, which provided services to the Agricola Tre Valli in the Oppeano logistics center, in province of Verona.
On December 7, 2024, he was included in the register of those investigated for private violence because, during the protest, he prevented some trucks from accessing the establishment. The Prosecutor's Office later requested the case be dismissed, which was granted on November 20, 2025, by Judge Maria Cecilia Vitolla, who pointed to the "absence of criminal conduct."
The worker appealed to the Tar do Lácio (a Portuguese labor court) after the ministerial refusal. According to the administrative judges, the conduct cited as an impediment was not correctly assessed. Without proven criminal elements, the behavior can be considered "an expression of an action to protect union rights."
According to the court, the picket line constitutes "the exercise of the constitutional right to strike." The judges added that the ministry should have taken into account the applicant's conduct throughout his time in the country, by which time he was "fully integrated into the economic and social fabric."
The worker arrived at Verona He arrived in 2012 looking for work. Two years later, he obtained family reunification for his wife and son, who moved to the city in 2014. Over the course of the decade, he obtained a long-term residency permit and bought his own home.
Italian citizenship by residency can be requested after more than ten years in the country. “It’s not easy to obtain a ruling like this from the Court of Lazio, and we are very pleased,” stated lawyer Claudia Pedrini. According to her, the applicant had received a ministerial order that he considers unfair, and it will still take months to obtain citizenship. (With information from Corriere del Veneto)
