A Georgian citizen held at a
refugee processing centre near Trieste whose suspected
police-brutality death in hospital last week aroused EU concern
did not in fact die from a beating, the detainee guarantor's
medical examiner and coroner Lorenzo Cociani confirmed to ANSA
Monday.
But Gorizia prosecutor Massimo Lia said "we can't rule out
100% causes of a violent type".
"There's a first indication that comes from the the autopsy",
he said, referring to the coroner's statement, "but prudence is
needed and it is too early to give a precise and unequivocal
indication".
A European Commission spokesperson told ANSA Thursday the EC
trusted Italy to investigate the death of Georgian citizen
Vakhtang Enukidze in a refugee repatriation centre at Gradisca
near Gorizia.
Enukidze, 38, died on January 18, allegedly after being
beaten up by 10 agents, according to fellow migrants who said
they witnessed the beating.
Some sources have said the witnesses were expelled from
Italy.
Authorities have denied comparisons to the case of Stefano
Cucchi, a Roman draughtsman who died in custody after a police
beating in 2009, having been picked up on a minor drugs beef.
Italian police chief Franco Gabrielli said such comparisons
were "offensive".
He said the affair had yet to be cleared up.
The Cucchi case recently ended with convictions after long
years of cover-ups.
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