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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