A lawyer for the family Stefano
Cucchi, a Roman draughtsman who died in police custody in 2009,
said Thursday they were considering legal action against Rome
city council and the Italian State for compensation over a
string of false statements and cover-ups of alleged police
brutality.
"In light of the chain of false statements which is emerging,
we are taking into consideration legal action against the Rome
city council and we are evaluating a suit for compensation
against the State," said Fabio Anselmo.
Prosecutor Giovanni Musarò on Wednesday told a Rome trial on
Cucchi's death, in which five Carabinieri stand accused after
years of cover-ups, that "in this affair a rigged game has been
played, with marked cards".
"The game was played at the expense of the family: at stake
here was the credibility of an entire system," said Musarò.
Because of the cover-ups, he said, former interior minister
Angelino Alfano "paradoxically reported (to parliament) lies on
falsified documents."
A Carabinieri general has been placed under investigation
over one suspected cover-up in the case
General Alessandro Casarsa is suspected of making false
statements.
Cucchi allegedly died in 2009 due to injuries caused by a
beating by Carabinieri police.
One of the five Carabinieri on trial in relation to the case
has accused two others of the beating.
In October case files revealed that a Carabinieri police
officer said in a recorded conversation that a superior sent a
modified report on Cucchi's state of health.
"He sent them already changed," Lieutenant Massimiliano
Colombo, commander of the Tor Sapienza station, said referring
to Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Cavallo, who at the time was
number two of the Carabinieri Rome group command office.
Several Carabinieri, including Cavallo, are under
investigation for an alleged cover-up in a case that, for
several years, looked set to end without anyone being brought to
justice.
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