Three Carabinieri officers accused of involuntary manslaughter over the death in custody of Stefano Cucchi in October 2009 had been suspended, sources said on Friday. Rome prosecutors have requested that the three be sent to trial along with two other Carabinieri accused of calumny and making false declarations.
The three allegedly beat the young draughtsman after his arrest on October 15, 2009.
Cucchi died in a custodial wing of Rome's Sandro Pertini Hospital on October 22, 2009, a week after he was picked up on minor drug charges.
The Cucchi case has caused widespread public dismay after several trials springing from an initial investigation failed to find any culprits, even though Cucchi's body showed signs of him being the victim of brutality.
Last year five Pertini doctors were acquitted of manslaughter charges over Cucchi's death after Italy's supreme Cassation Court had ordered a fresh appeals trial against them.
The Carabinieri police who arrested Cucchi struck him with "slaps, punches and kicks" prosecutors wrote in a notification that they had concluded an investigation into the case.
The blows caused a "bad fall with an impact on the ground in the rear area" which, "combined with the negligent conduct of the health personnel treating Cucchi at the Sandro Pertini hospital (in Rome), led to his death".
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