During a long and lively hearing, Genoese journalist and MEP Giulietto Chiesa gave a fluent and analytical account of events on July 20. Deputy Police Commissioner Maurizio Fiorillo's testimony, on the other hand, was disjointed and full of anomalies.

"The police decision to advance was a mistake," said Chiesa. "They should have held their ranks but by instead leaving both flanks open, their behaviour created chaos. It was a technical error." He was particularly critical of official incompetence, pointing out that police had overreacted and hurled tear gas canisters at head height. More importantly, he added, "they left demonstrators no way of getting out. I consider it a miracle that no one died in all that chaos".

Fiorillo, on the other hand - one of only two high-ranking police officers present - remembers almost nothing of events in Piazza Alimonda that day. This memory loss appeared so strange that even the magistrate commented on it, suggesting that the extraordinary events of those days would surely be "unforgettable to anyone". There were also a number of mysterious gaps in Fiorillo's testimony, such as why he was the only agent deployed during that period who failed to file even a single duty report. This is not standard procedure for a police officer who witnessed a homicide.