28.05.08
Letter to the Bolzaneto victims
Letter to the Bolzaneto victims
Dear friends,
During the month of July, most probably on 21st or 22nd, the sentence concluding the Bolzaneto trial should be announced.
The public prosecutors are asking to sentence 44 people that include (high-ranking) officials and officers from the Police Force, from the Carabinieri (military police), from the prison guard service, doctors and nurses, all accused of acts of violence inflicted on those arrested or simply detained, from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July 2001 in the barracks at Genova Bolzaneto.
Since the specific crime of torture is not featured in our criminal code, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged the above with offences ranging from abuse of office, brutality, beating, grievous bodily harm, insults, abuse of authority, threats, falsehood, to failure to provide medical referral or medical assistance, amounting to a total of seventy-six years, four months and twenty days’ imprisonment. None of the accused is likely to spend even a day in prison, given that most of the crimes will have lapsed (according to the statute of limitations) by 2009.
We will, however, have achieved something, even if minimal, if the Court sentences those responsible and obtains compensation for the plaintiffs for the damage suffered, both physical and moral.
For the occasion of the sentence the Truth & Justice Committee for Genoa is organizing a series of initiatives and accommodation for all those coming to Genova. The Mayor of Genova, Ms Marta Vincenzi, has offered to provide hospitality, at the expense of the local council, for the plaintiffs who will be coming to Genova for the sentence and, for this reason, we need to know who is intending to come.
Via your e-mail address and our site we will be contacting you to inform you about the initiatives that the committee is organizing for the event and to provide all other essential information.
Best wishes,
Enrica Bartesaghi
President of the Truth & Justice Committee for Genoa
