(see related story)
The credibility of the Italian State
is at stake over the management of pre-removal detention
centres (CPR) for migrants awaiting expulsion, Potenza public
prosecutor Francesco Curcio said on Tuesday.
Roughly 30 people including top managers, medical doctors and
police officers at the Palazzo San Gervasio pre-removal centre
in Potenza have been placed under investigation in a probe
sparked by revelations concerning the alleged maltreatment of a
migrant.
Briefing reporters in the Basilicata regional capital, Curcio
said at the San Gervasio CPR "people who caused problems were
treated like monkeys".
In particular, he said investigators have established the
"large-scale administration of a drug, Rivotril, commonly known
as the 'drug of the poor' for no need".
Ritrovil is a medication used to prevent and treat a number of
psychiatric disorders including anxiety, panic disorder and
mania.
The investigations have brought to light a total of 35 cases of
ill-treatment of people detained in the Potenza CPR, leading to
the arrest of a police inspector and three other
disqualification measures.
In another strand of the probe, investigators have also
uncovered "a genuine monopoly on legal assistance" at the
pre-removal centre, with fees "in one case of as much as
700,000 euro" paid by the State to a single law firm.
The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni is planning to double
the number of CPRs in Italy from the existing ten as part of
its efforts to combat irregular migration.
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