2 Carabinieri get 12 yrs for Cucchi

(ANSA) - Rome, November 14 - Two Carabinieri were sentenced to 12 years in jail Thursday for involuntary homicide in the 2009 death of Rome draughtsman Stefano Cucchi.
    Alessio Di Bernardo and Raffaele D'Alessandro were also convicted of abuse of authority.
    A defendant who turned witness and gave evidence on police brutality, Francesco Tedesco, was cleared of involuntary homicide but got two and a half years for making false statements.
    "Stefano was killed, we knew that and we've been repeating it for 10 years. Now perhaps he can rest in peace," said his sister Ilaria, who has campaigned tirelessly for the truth in the case in the face of police obstruction and, until recently, omerta. Earlier, a Rome appeals court on Friday acquitted one doctor and timed out four others for negligent manslaughter in the 2009 death of 31-year-old Cucchi, who was picked up on a minor drugs charge in October 2009 and died in hospital a week later.
    The case, which has been dogged by alleged cover-ups that are subject to a separate probe, was bogged down for years before a Carabiniere turned informant.