The deputy prosecutor-general of
Italy's supreme Cassation Court, Antonio Mura, on Wednesday
asked the court to acquittals of five doctors at Rome's Pertini
Hospital in the culpable manslaughter of Stefano Cucchi, a
draughtsman arrested on minor drug charges who died in the
custody in the hospital in October 2009.
Mura criticised the second appeals trial for "evading the
cassation's mandate" and not ordering new tests.
He said that the case was "on the eve of timing out" but he
still asked the annulment of the acquittals so as to "save" the
compensatory damage claims.
The five Pertini doctors were acquitted of manslaughter
charges last year over Cucchi's death after the Cassation
Court had ordered a fresh appeals trial against them.
In February three Carabinieri officers accused of involuntary
manslaughter over Cucchi's death were suspended.
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 the 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.
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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