Police custody Uva death 'merits trial'

(ANSA) - Varese, July 22 - A prosecutor who indicted six policemen and an officer in the death in custody of Giuseppe Uva said Tuesday there was enough evidence of "externally induced" injuries for a voluntary manslaughter trial. Uva, 43, was arrested at 3am on the morning of June 14, 2008, along with his friend Alberto Biggiogero, who later testified he heard his friend Uva screaming for several hours while being beaten in a cell next door.
    Police then rushed Uva to hospital, where he died. Before that, however, a prosecution witness named Assunta Rossa testified she heard police threaten Uva on his hospital bed. The case is one of several for alleged police brutality that have captured headlines recently.
    Earlier this month a Milan court acquitted four policemen accused of murdering Michele Ferulli, who died of a heart attack while being cuffed in 2011.
    Present at the Ferulli case trial was Uva's sister Lucia, who has campaigned tirelessly to shed light on the truth about her brother's death.