"From this sentence the public expect to know if it is legal, for the Italian state, to be taken without a reason from hospitals, transported in a military police station and remain detained there for hours, kneeling, beaten, insulted."
These were the last words used by prosecutor Marco Del Gaudio in his indictment
to demand the condemnation of those agents that in March 2001, in
Naples, subjected to unprecedented violence 85 demonstrators.
It was not an ordinary day, because the epilogue of the "No Global Forum" in Naples on March 17, 2001, was only a dress rehearsal for what happened in Genoa some months later. The Naples City Court had no hesitation in acknowledging guilty of aggravated kidnapping police officers Carlo Solimene and Fabio Ciccimarra, sentenced to 2 years and 8 months. The sentence, issued by the Fifth Chamber of the Court of Naples, has partially accepted the requests of the prosecutors De Cristofaro and Del Gaudio and it's a very important sentence because it demonstrates how a uniform does not mean freedom to do violence.
It was a day of clashes, violence and chaos on that 17th March. The
anti-globalization protesters, during the work of the international
conference, organized a demonstration that ended in violent clashes between
police and demonstrators at via Leoncavallo, the far edge of the red
area towards Piazza Municipio.
After these clashes 83 anti globalization protesters went to hospitals to be
healed and right there they were taken by police to the Raniero Virgilio police station, without explanation. Over there they suffered two hours and a half of abuse and violence. They were welcomed by spitting, insults and threats and then they were led into the so-called "wellness room" where they were "forced
to kneel with their faces against the wall and hands behind their heads, and
in that position they were forced to stay for hours. They have been repeatedly struck from behind with kicks, fists and batons. They were abused and intimidated several times, then they were
forced into a bathroom where they suffered humiliating physical
inspections and often violent beatings."
A real "frenzy" inspired the behavior of those policemen. The situation got out of hand, but
the absurdity is that none of the agents thought it was
appropriate to inform the prosecutor of those arrests, without any title. Today, after "only" nine years, arrives the first sentence that involves not only Manna and Tedesco, but also 11 policemen. For 10 others, however, it has already been declared the statute of limitations.
Marianna Lepore
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