Trial requested for 30 local police officers in Genoa

There are 32 people under investigation in the investigation closed by the Genoa prosecutor's office into the alleged abuses committed by local police officers against arrested people, mostly foreigners. These are 30 agents, almost all belonging to the anti-degradation unit of the former local police commander Gianluca Giurato and the former municipal security councilor, now councilor of the mixed group, Sergio Gambino.

The prosecutor Sabrina Monteverde and the deputy Federico Manotti accuse the agents of various crimes ranging from abuse of authority to forgery, from embezzlement to injuries and false information to the prosecutor. Some are also accused of aggravating racial hatred. According to the prosecution, they would have insulted and beaten those arrested, falsified reports and stolen part of the seized money, keeping it for personal expenses: "These guys are so generous - said the intercepted agents - that they pay for pizza, sandwiches and drinks, all included". In one case they boasted of having used the money stolen from an arrested person to buy a camera for the department. Among the elements collected by the flying squad investigators are wiretaps, videos and messages from the chat, parallel to the official one, "Those good guys", in which the agents shared the images of the beaten prisoners. In some messages there was talk of "beating" foreigners, in others of "chocolates" to indicate people being slapped and punched and of the "whispering" technique, used to approach and provoke or insult them in a low voice, before using force.

During the investigation, at a certain point, the suspects had also discovered "bugs" in company cars and private cars and had gone to file a complaint against unknown persons. Gambino and Giurato are accused of aiding and abetting and delaying reporting. According to the prosecutor's office, the former councilor instigated the commander not to immediately report to the judiciary the revelations of two female police officers regarding the behavior of their colleagues. "Nothing in the prosecutor's office, don't take them to the prosecutor's office," Gambino allegedly said in a phone call. Juror would also have delayed the transmission of the documents for a month and called a meeting to inform the agents of the accusations, reassuring them of the outcome of the investigations.

The former commander is also accused of violating official secrecy. The agents have all been transferred to non-operational roles, as the law allows, by the new commander Fabio Manzo. One of them filed a lawsuit in the Labor Court over an alleged demotion. "The behavior alleged against the officers under investigation, if verified, is extremely serious and damages the image, honor and serious work of colleagues who operate in the area every day. All precautions have already been taken from an operational point of view. There is nothing else to do other than to firmly distinguish between those who possibly committed these crimes which are being disputed and the vast majority of the local police forces, of the law enforcement agencies, who do their work in the area with seriousness and dedication" commented the mayor of Genoa, Silvia Salis.