The alleged rape of two
20-year-old American students by two on-duty Carabinieri in
Florence constitutes "a bloodcurdling use of the uniform,"
ex-premier and ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader
Matteo Renzi said Monday.
"What happened in Florence is of an unprecedented gravity,"
said the former Florence mayor.
"The use of the uniform in this way is bloodcurdling".
If the charges of rape are proven, it would be "absolutely
unjustifiable and to be condemned with force. I say that not as
party leader but as a father, son, citizen.
"Those two people have besmirched the Corps".
Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said "we will be inflexible"
on the case of the two Carabinieri.
Pinotti, who as defence chief controls the Carabinieri, a
paramilitary force, said "we will get to the bottom of this, and
punish those responsible".
One of the Carabinieri has reportedly admitted having sex
with one of the young women but has claimed it was consensual
and the woman was not drunk.
The other has yet to admit having sex, according to sources
close to the case. Prosecutors have said he will be called in
unless he comes in of his own accord.
Medical sources said tests indicated the women had been
drinking heavily.
After helping quell a fight in a disco near the scenic
Piazzale Michelangelo, the cops took the women back to their
central Florence apartment building, on the upscale Via
Tornabuoni, where the students said they were raped, one in the
lobby and the other in the lift.
DNA matching of vaginal swabs to samples from the Carabinieri
is pending.
The Carabinieri corps is the "injured party" in the case,
Florence Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo said, stressing that
"the Carabinieri have from the outset taken an active and
determined part in the investigations that have been entrusted
to the police".
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