On May 10 last, the trial of the “Prometeo” trial began, in which the anarchist comrades Natascia, Beppe and Robert are accused of sending three parcel bombs to the former director of the DAP (Dipartimento dell’Amministrazione Penitenziaria, “Department of Penitentiary Administration”), Santi Consolo, and two prosecutors of Turin, Roberto Sparagna and Antonio Rinaudo. The trial is taking place in front of the court of assizes of Genoa, as the indictment (article 280, paragraph 1 and paragraph 3) foresees a sentence starting from 20 years imprisonment. The trial was held by videoconference for the two comrades still locked up, Natascia and Beppe, who “attended” the hearings through a screen from the prisons of Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Bologna respectively. The trial followed a schedule of two hearings a week from May 10 to June 2, and saw a considerable number of carabinieri from the ROS (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, “Special Operational Grouping”) and experts from the RIS (Reparto Investigazioni Scientifiche, “Scientific Investigations Department”) summoned as witnesses by the prosecution, represented by prosecutor Federico Manotti and by the civil plaintiff who appeared for Rinaudo.
The core of the prosecution’s case revolves around the testimony of ROS General Bogliacino of Turin, which lasted two full days and, rather than talking about specific facts, focused mostly on ideological issues related to the accused comrades in the trial, on their interpersonal relationships and their correspondence with some prisoners, on internet searches dating back to 2012 (!) and related to news and public discussions and on everyday dialogues instrumentally exhumed to reach forced conclusions. The same script used in similar trials for other comrades: after all, the suggestion assumes a fundamental role in a trial against anarchists, even more so if you are in front of a popular jury. For this reason, many words were also spent on friendly relations with a comrade who in the past was arrested on charges of terrorism and possession of alleged explosive material, and in this wake the ROS have then evoked the solidarity with the defendants in the Scripta Manent trial and that directed to another prisoner, to justify in this way the motives and aversions to those who are the offended parties in this process, the DAP and two prosecutors involved in the repression of the struggles and not only. As if the same aversion was not shared by almost every rebel, anarchist, antagonist, or criminal by necessity or virtue.
The same RIS experts were not so convinced of the lethality of the parcel bombs in question, and the witness who tried to appear more credible clung to unspecified “experiments carried out by himself in private”, experiments which, moreover, he did not even expose in the trial in order to demonstrate lethality.
The civil party then appointed its own list of witnesses to bring to the courtroom, all of the same tenor as those mentioned above, and then brought Rinaudo and his wife in person to the courtroom to narrate their fate as persons persecuted by the dangerous antagonist environments, moreover contradicting themselves on the dates of some alleged intimidations.
The defence intervened through the cross-examination of each of the witnesses, the nomination of experts such as the explosives expert and the forensic doctor on the typology of the material, an expert to dismantle certain interceptions which took place according to the now consolidated “cut and sew” technique of ROS and DIGOS (Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali, “General Investigations and Special Operations Division”, political division of the state police), and finally with an expert to analyse the video which, according to the accusation, films Beppe and Natascia before and after the purchase of the mysterious envelopes. In this regard, it is interesting to note that, according to the prosecution, the shop where Beppe and Natascia entered that day was the only one selling that particular type of envelope in the whole area of Genoa and its surroundings (i.e. the only areas where such checks were carried out). Obviously, a search by the lawyers was enough to find that the same identical envelopes were also sold in another shop in Genoa, and what’s more, at the exact same price indicated in pencil above. As if that were not enough, again thanks to the lawyers’ cross-examinations, it also came to light that the ROS were already aware of this “detail”. A “detail” that they deliberately omitted in order to reinforce the prosecution’s fabricated and fanciful house of cards.
During the hearing on July 1, Natascia made a statement about her hunger strike and the condition she is experiencing in Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison, which in fact prevents her from being able to see her lawyer and her loved ones.
On July 2 there was a final statement by all three accused comrades.
The court postponed the closure of the preliminary investigation until September 20, the date on which the prosecutor’s and civil plaintiff’s arguments will probably take place, with the related indictment and request for conviction.
September 27 and 28 will be two days entirely dedicated to the defence, October 19 is the last hearing for possible replies, and then the date for the sentence will have to be fixed.
In the meantime, Natascia and Beppe are still locked up in prison for over two years. Natascia has been on hunger strike for 20 days, determined not to eat another bite as long as she remains in the infamous Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison. The same infamous place – the protagonist of the news of these days [in Italy] – where the heavy beating of April 2020 took place in retaliation against a protest of the prisoners. The same slaughter of which mass media and institutions seem to notice only in these days, but that we know it has always been happening systematically, in every prison, in every barracks, in every police station.
All our hate for those who try to bury our comrades in a cell.
At Natascia’s side, on hunger strike for 20 days, fighting against her second transfer to the prison of Santa Maria Capua Vetere.
At the side of Beppe and Robert, of all the imprisoned comrades and all the prisoners in struggle.
To write to Natascia:
Natascia Savio C. C. “F. Uccella”
S. S. 7 bis – via Appia, km 6,500
81055 Santa Maria Capua Vetere (CE)
Italia – Italy
To write to Beppe:
Giuseppe Bruna C. C. di Bologna “Dozza”
via del Gomito 2
40127 Bologna
Italia – Italy
To support Natascia and Beppe financially and to contribute to the legal expenses:
Note:At this link it is possible to read all the updates of the last years on the Prometeo operation and the ongoing trial in Genoa (the texts are in both Italian and English): https://malacoda.noblogs.org/post/tag/operazione-prometeo/.
starting from 20 years imprisonment. The trial was held by videoconference for the two comrades still locked up, Natascia and Beppe, who “attended” the hearings through a screen from the prisons of Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Bologna respectively. The trial followed a schedule of two hearings a week from May 10 to June 2, and saw a considerable number of carabinieri from the ROS (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, “Special Operational Grouping”) and experts from the RIS (Reparto Investigazioni Scientifiche, “Scientific Investigations Department”) summoned as witnesses by the prosecution, represented by prosecutor Federico Manotti and by the civil plaintiff who appeared for Rinaudo.