G8 2001 Bolzaneto, the indictment by Morisani, state prosecutor

On the night of July 21/22nd and just after the infamous diaz raid, Diaz police and prison police from Bolzaneto arrived at San martino hospital on the orders of Fini and Lega Nord Justice minister Roberto castelli to drag over 50 diaz victims from their hospital beds and transport them to Bolzaneto Police Detention Barracks some ten miles north of Genova. This was done against the protests of the Doctors and without the authorization of the Judicial authority.

The shift change at 9pm that sunday night by a newly arrived Carabinieri unit was to spell a night of torture and interrogation for the next 12 hours. Much went on behind closed doors and with no video evidence, the prosecutors office only had the victims and witness statements. From what can be peiced together, that sunday night, there were over 200 people imprisoned in Bolzaneto, 81 from Diaz(30 had come directly from Diaz). Apart from the description this week by Genova Prosecutor Mario Morisani - "It emerged - explained the prosecutor - that those arrested were forced to stand against a wall in 'position of power'; were hooded, subjected to continuous noise while being interrogated, deprived of sleep, food and beverages- but statements speaking of teargas thrown inside prison cells and the door closed, thereby suffocating the prisoners and Kangaroo courts.

The Diaz victims were in particularly poor shape compared with some of the other arrested people. Engel, a polish protester was beaten whilst having an un-diagnosed skull fracture. He could of died at any time according to prosecutors. A turkish victim had serious head injuries but was left in a cell for many hours without medical assistance.

Prosecutors were so alarmed by the actions of the police doctors at Bolzaneto, five doctors were arrested alongside the prison police. One in particular was nicknamed 'Dr mengele' for his vicious attitude. Bolzaneto medical staff witnessed acts of torture and abuse but did not intervene or treat the victims.

Was Bolzaneto politically sanctioned or was it the actions of some prison cop unit? The evidence presented came from Lega Nord Justice minister in 2006. In 2001, Roberto Castelli- the Lega Nord Justice minister - testified that he performed a 'prison inspection' of Bolzaneto that saturday afternoon of July 21st while the genova riots were raging. Called in 2006 and being faced with being blamed for Bolzaneto, he changed his testimony and stated that Gianfranco Fini had ordered him to go to Bolzaneto and "set the conditions". The prosecutors office reached the conclusion that the arrival of the Carabineri unit at Bolzaneto - an unusual event- was what was meant by 'setting the conditions"

So far Gianfranco Fini has not been called by the courts either in Bolzaneto or Diaz.

The motives for what happened at Bolzaneto are multiple. For the police, after planting evidence at Diaz, they saw bolzaneto as a processing transit point for the victims to arrive at Pavia prison. For castelli and Fini, it was an opportunity to cause harm to the movement of movements that threatened them before the G8.

When some of the Diaz victims did arrive at Pavia the wednesday after their ordeal, the staff took pity and gave them food and showers. They were also treated by medical staff and allowed access to lawyers and embassy staff. By Wednesday night, all Diaz victims were released from custody without charge by a judge in Rome.