ITALY: Naples police charged
01 March 2002
Eight policemen from the Naples flying squad have been placed under house arrest in connection with the treatment of protestors at the Global Forum on e-government organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) held in Naples on 18 March 2001 (see Statewatch vol 10 no 3/4 and Statewatch news online, July 2002).
Forty thousand people protested against the meeting and clashes with police took place in Piazza Municipio when protestors tried to push their way through police lines to gain access to the "red zone", which was forbidden to demonstrators. On the day, 200 people were injured, 83 detained, two arrested and 13 placed under investigation. According to Il Sole 24 ore newspaper over 100 police officers are under investigation in connection with events in Naples. Police are accused of violently charging protestors and sealing off all exits, so that non-violent demonstrators were caught up in the violence. The preventative custody orders, however, relate to violence and abusive treatment against demonstrators at the hands of the police in custody in the Raniero police barracks - where people were rounded up in hospitals and held. Events in the barracks are reminiscent of what happened in Bolzaneto carabinieri barracks in Genoa in July 2002, when protestors were detained and violently abused by police.
The arrest of eight policemen provoked strong responses from police unions and government officials, and colleagues of the accused linked arms in protest outside the police headquarters in Naples to form a human chain claiming, "these arrests are illegal". Alleanza Nazionale (AN) Communications Minister, Maurizio Gasparri, argued that the magistrates responsible for the orders have a political agenda and that “in moments like these it is impossible not to take sides”. Deputy prime minister Gianfranco Fini, also of AN, stated that if the arrests "were not backed by the necessary evidence we would be in the presence of a very serious act, for its consequences on the morale of law enforcement agencies".
The police trade unions joined in the protests. The Sindacato Italiano Appartenenti Polizia (SIAP) claimed that:
Talking of law enforcement agencies as "bandits in a uniform" is the same as killing again all the victims of duty - that is - everyone who, in the name of justice and democracy, has sacrificed their lives
Journalist Carlo Gubitosa noted that there is a substantial difference between calling policemen "bandits in uniform" and placing eight officers under house arrest for specific offences. The Sindacato Autonomo di Polizia (SAP) attacked the magistrates saying that it will "verify whether the reasons invoked by the Naples judicial authorities for the use of preventative measures [leading to] house arrest against our colleagues" exist, warning that conflict with the judicial authorities may follow. The Sindacato Unitario Lavoratori di Polizia (SIULP) went so far as to claim that the problems for the police are not only caused by "those who use the streets to exercise violence" but also by "those who, having to apply the precise rules of justice, sometimes end up carrying out gross injustices" - effectively asking for the law to be more flexible to ensure impunity to police officers acting under duress, in difficult circumstances.
The custody orders were issued against deputy local auxiliary chief of police Carlo Solimene, a head police commissioner, Fabio Ciccimarra, and police officers Pietro Bandiera, Michele Pellegrino, Francesco Incalza, Francesco Adesso, Luigi Petrone and Paolo Chianese (who was abroad when the arrests took place). Fabio Ciccimarra is reportedly also under investigation for events in Genoa. The arrests were called for by prosecuting magistrates Marco Del Gaudio and Francesco Cascini, and authorised by the judge for preliminary investigations, Isabella Iabelli.
The investigating magistrates justify the arrests on a number of grounds:
for the objective s