Reactions heated to G8 convictions of Italian police

Penitent and heated reactions from Italian leaders came tumbling forward Friday in the wake of a ruling by Italy's highest appeals court that effectively truncates a significant part of the top tier of Italy's national law enforcement for grievous misconduct in relation to police beatings at the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. On Thursday, the Cassation Court upheld criminal convictions of three police heads, as well as two former high-ranking officers, for aggravated perjury. The officers were found to have covered up evidence regarding the brutal beatings of anti-global protesters staying the night in a school during the G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001. They face from nearly four years to five years in prison and have been prohibited from serving in public office for five years. Among those convicted are the State Police's central anti-crime department chief, Francesco Gratteri, who faces four years in prison; the head of analysis at Italy's domestic intelligence agency AISI, Giovanni Luperi, also condemned to four years. Both had been cleared at the original trial in 2008. Luperi's defense lawyer said Friday that his 62-year-old client was old enough to receive pension benefits and had decided to retire. The head of police central operations, Gilberto Caldarozzi, was sentenced to three years and eight months. Former Rome flying squad chief Vincenzo Canterini, whose conviction was also upheld - and the only higher-ranking officer convicted in 2008 - saw his jail term lengthened from four to five years in 2010. The head of the security police in Genoa at the time, Spartaco Mortola, also cleared at the original trial, was given three years eight months. The 13 police agents convicted of brutality in 2008 saw their sentences raised from three to four years But the Cassation Court on Thursday tossed out the convictions of the eight squad chiefs and five officers for the beatings themselves, saying the statute of limitations had lapsed. Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri cautioned against anger toward the police as a whole due to the mistakes of a few important men. "The Genoa G8 is a painful page for the police and this hurts me. I saw as well as everyone else what happened inside the Diaz (school where the protesters were beaten)...It is right for those responsible to suffer the consequences," she said. But she added, "This can not become the condemnation of all the thousands of men and women who each day put on their uniforms and perform their duty." Head of the State Police Antonio Manganelli said, "This is the moment for apology, apology due to those who suffered damage, but also to those who, having trust in the police as an institution, have seen it in difficulty for some misconduct," Manganelli added. Center-right senator Carlo Giovanardi reacted with anger, saying: "Sincerely, I don't think that the Cassation sentencing has satisfied the demand for justice for what happened in Genoa...After 11 years, none of those who set Genoa ablaze for two days or were directly responsible for the violence at the Diaz school has paid for their guilt while the most brilliant and capable directors on the front line against criminality in the State Police must go home for aggravated perjury, for which they were absolved in the first trial." The Cassation judges also found Thursday that the senior officials ordered the raid, unlike the 2008 judges who ruled the police acted on their own without instructions from their superiors. The judges also upheld victims' rights to compensation. "The chain of command was condemned and this is a great result," said Francesco Romeo, a lawyer who represented one of the victims Friday night. "But the night at the Diaz school remains a dark chapter in Italian democracy and parliament has yet to even create a commission of inquiry to identify those politically responsible." On May 28 the Cassation Court said there was no proof that the former national police chief, Gianni De Gennaro, was involved in the raid. Three people were left comatose and 26 had to be taken to the hospital after the raid at the Diaz school. The police, who burst onto the scene in riot gear, arrested 93 protesters, including British, French, German and other non-Italian nationals. More than 300,000 demonstrators converged on Genoa for the G8 summit in July 2001. Amid violence that marred the three-day event, a police officer killed a 23-year-old protester. The incidents scarred the northwestern Italian city and led to long-running court cases against demonstrators charged with criminal damage and police accused of brutality.