Italy's Sappe union representing
penitentiary police officers announced on Monday it is suing
Ilaria Cucchi, sister of 31-year-old Stefano Cucchi who died in
custody in 2009.
The secretary-general of Sape, Donato Capece, said the
union had previously chosen to maintain a ''low profile'' but
could not accept the ''judgements and allegations'' made by
Ilaria Cucchi after an appeals court last Friday acquitted all
accused in her brother's death.
A first-instance trial last year acquitted three warders
and three nurses in the case, a decision upheld by the appeals
court last week.
At the first-instance trial, however, five doctors and a
hospital staff member were convicted of manslaughter, a ruling
struck down on Friday.
The Cucchi family expressed outrage after the acquittals
and Ilaria Cucchi said she wanted to meet Rome Chief Prosecutor
Giuseppe Pignatone to push for an appeal, which means the case
could be heard for a third time by Italy's supreme court, the
Court of Cassation.
''All statements made by Ilaria Cucchi are clearly aimed at
instigating hatred and suspicion towards a whole category of
people operating in the security sector, in particular against
those who are in charge of the custody of people under arrest or
detention, as provided by law'', Capece said on Monday.
Rome prosecutors have said they are willing to reopen
investigations, provided there are sufficient grounds to do so.
Cucchi died in the prison wing of Rome's Pertini hospital
on October 22, 2009, one week after he was arrested on a drug
charge.
An autopsy found he was seriously dehydrated, had two
broken vertebrae and internal organ damage at the time of death.
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