Of the 271 taken to the police station, 220 are minors. Those arrested are 11 adults, all born mostly between 2007 and 2008, and 34 minors. The Prosecutor's Office, directed by Marcello Viola, has already forwarded requests for validation and precautionary custody in prison for all the suspects.
The crimes charged are devastation and looting and multi-aggravated resistance to a public official. For the crime of devastation and looting, imprisonment from 8 to 15 years is foreseen, with an increase in sentence if the crime occurs during demonstrations in a public place or open to the public. For resisting a public official, imprisonment ranges from 6 months to 5 years. In this case, being multi-aggravated, the sentence is increased by up to half.
For minors the situation is a little different. In case of conviction, the expected sentence is reduced by up to a third compared to adults. This means that if the judge applies the minimum sentence foreseen for adults in the crime of looting and devastation, i.e. 8 years, the minor will have to serve 5 years and 4 months in prison.
Juvenile justice favors the re-educational purpose of the sentence and the growth path of the minor, also providing for the possibility of resorting to measures other than prison. For a sentence of no more than three years, the judge can order the conditional suspension of the sentence, if the conditions are met. However, when the sentence to be carried out does not exceed four years, probation may be granted to the social service, as part of an educational and recovery process. The applicable measures however depend on the conditions established by law and on the assessment of the specific case.
Meanwhile, the investigators' work continues to identify other perpetrators of the violence, through the analysis of images of the clashes and vandalism, but also of social profiles and chats. A case will also be opened for the same crime cases to eventually arrive at other arrests with precautionary custody orders, as happened in similar cases.
The first interrogations of adults took place yesterday in the San Vittore prison, in particular those of the five arrested on 17 October who were divided into two groups during the riots. Meanwhile, one of the young people, blocked while he was in Piazza Duomo and then arrested, claims to have "nothing to do with the clashes" and that he was "there for the 'Italia in piazza' demonstration".
The interrogations of the first 11 minors arrested are expected today at the Beccaria Institute. In the meantime, the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office has sent the first requests for validation and precautionary measures for minors to the investigating judge, which in total, together with the 23 already blocked in the last few hours, raise the number of arrests to 34. The figure could increase, given that investigative activities are underway.
In the documents, the Prosecutor's Office defined the clashes as "destructive actions of rare violence". The adults "showed an absolute ease in improvising destructive actions of rare violence", showing "a significant criminal capacity" and an inability to "self-control", wrote the Prosecutor's Office asking for the validation of the arrest and the prison sentence for some of the 5 young people. One of these, according to what emerges from the documents, went into action with his face covered by a balaclava depicting the face of a well-known footballer.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, those responsible had "no hesitation in using violence, in joining the street riots and in repeating the same behaviors that had occurred only a day earlier at the hands" of others. In a report of devastation and looting, we read that one of the arrested people, after having smashed the windows of a shop selling a famous sportswear brand, used "bars and other objects" to then steal, together with other boys, an enormous "quantity of goods on display". While fleeing, he then hit a police inspector with "an elbow to the face".
Meanwhile in Milan some shops in the fashion district were closed for an entire day for fear of possible new riots. In via Montenapoleone, shutters lowered for several brands, including Chanel, Hermès and Pomellato. In via Monti, Goyard has put up a sign to inform customers that, "given the demonstrations, we will remain closed". In recent hours, the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, together with the president of Confcommercio Carlo Sangalli, visited some of the shops devastated by the guerrilla war. "Unacceptable and unjustifiable actions and scenes", said the mayor.
Meanwhile, the damage count for Milanese businesses is rising. "From half a million yesterday morning we are at around 1 million", explained Marco Barbieri, general secretary of Confcommercio Milano. "But the issue is another, the lack of revenue for the businesses that have had to close and for the cancellations that are starting to occur, especially from foreigners", he added, specifying that what has happened has already led to "several cancellations" in restaurants and hotels, "because people are afraid". In the damage calculation there is also "the damage to Milan's image".
The extraordinary summit on public order and security involved the "deployment of 500 soldiers to strengthen the garrison of the city and counter guerrilla actions", explained the undersecretary of Defense, Isabella Rauti, with responsibility for the "Safe Roads" operation. The Council of Ministers instead "will examine a new law decree to strengthen the tools to combat violence and 'urban guerrilla warfare'"; he reiterated.
