The Carabinieri corps and the defence
ministry on Tuesday asked to be civil plaintiffs in the alleged
police brutality death of Rome draughtsman Stefano Cucchi in
2009.
They asked to be considered injured parties in a new trial
against eight Carabinieri including commanding officers accused
of covering up the alleged brutality.
In an initial trial, a Carabiniere defendant turned
prosecution witness has accused three fellow Carabinieri of
beating Cucchi so severely that he died of his injuries.
In the fresh preliminary hearing, Cucchi's family also filed
to be civil plaintiffs as they are in the first trial, as well
as Carabiniere Roberto Casamassima, prison guards, the military
trade union and activist group Cittadinanzattiva.
On May 15 Casamassima, one of the key witnesses in the
cover-up case, was accused of drug pushing.
Casamassima, who has accused other Carabinieri of covering up
the Cucchi beating, has been accused by an unnamed informant.
Casamassima said a search of his home did not turn up any
drugs, as erroneously reported in the press.
"No drugs were found," he said.
"This is the umpteenth attempt to delegitimise and intimidate
me," he said.
Casamamassima is one of the key witnesses in the high-profile
case, along with fellow cop Francesco Tedesco, another policeman
who has become a witness for the prosecution.
Last month Tedesco told a court about the alleged
brutality that allegedly caused the death in custody of Rome
draughtsman Cucchi in 2009.
For several years the case looked set to end without anyone
being brought to justice for Cucchi's death, allegedly because
of a cover-up.
But a breakthrough came when Tedesco, one of five Carabinieri
on trial in relation to Cucchi's death, accused two
others of the beating that allegedly caused it.
"I say sorry to the Cucchi family and the penitentiary police
officers who were defendants in the first trial (into the
case)," Francesco Tedesco told a Rome court.
"The last few years have been an insurmountable wall for me".
Tedesco told the court that, after refusing to have his
fingerprints taken, Cucchi was slapped hard by another
defendant, Alessio Di Bernardo.
He said that Cucchi fell to the floor and hit his head.
Tedesco said that another defendant, Raffaele D'Alessandro,
then kicked Cucchi in the face.
"It was not easy to report my colleagues," Tedesco said.
"The first person whom I told what happened was my lawyer. I
hadn't told anyone in my life for 10 years...
"To say I was scared is not enough. I was literally
terrorised.
"I was alone against a sort of wall. I panicked when I
realized that my service notes had vanished".
He said that a superior, Marshall Roberto Mandolini, told him
that "you have to follow the line of the force if you want to
continue to be a Carabiniere".
"I sense a threat in his words," Tedesco said.
Cucchi's sister Ilaria, who has staged a tireless campaign
for justice for her brother, expressed satisfaction at Tedesco's
testimony.
"After 10 years of lies and cover-ups, the truth came into
this courtroom told by the live voice of who was present that
day," she said.
Ilaria Cucchia also welcomed support from the commander of
the Carabinieri who said the corps would stand as plaintiff in
the case.
"The statements and intentions expressed by the corps general
commander make us finally feel less alone, he has lined up
officially on the side of the truth," she said.
General Giovanni Nistri, the commander of the Carabinieri
police force, reportedly pledged that he wants to get to the
bottom of the death in a letter to Ilaria Cucchi sister.
"We have the same impatience as you to see full light shed on
every aspect of the death of your brother so that the it is
possible to adopt the consequent measures against those who
failed to do their duty and respect the oath they swore," Nistri
said in the letter dated March 11, which La Repubblica published
on Monday.
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