Ill-treatment and torture in the Cesare Beccaria juvenile prison in Milan: 13 arrests and 8 suspensions

The State Police and the Regional Investigative Unit for Lombardy of the Penitentiary Police, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Milan, have been executing, since the early hours of the morning, an order issued at the request of the Public Prosecutors of the V Department, by which the precautionary detention in prison was ordered against 13 officers of the Penitentiary Police, twelve of whom are still on duty at the 'Cesare Beccaria' Juvenile Penal Institute in Milan, as well as the measure of suspension from exercising public office against a further eight employees of the same police force, also all on duty, who were working at the same juvenile detention facility at the time of the facts.

The various offences charged by the Public Prosecutor's Office and positively examined by the Preliminary Investigation Judge in relation to the conduct of the officers, found from at least 2022 to the present day and repeated over time against several detainees of minor age, are those of ill-treatment to the detriment of minors, also by omission, aggravated by the impaired defence and abuse of power; conspiracy to commit torture, also by omission, aggravated by the abuse of power of the police officer and by the circumstance of having committed the act to the detriment of minors; conspiracy to commit injury to minors, also by omission, aggravated by the abject and futile motives, by the impaired defence and by the abuse of power.u. as well as by the circumstance of having committed the deed to the detriment of minors; conspiracy to injure minors, also by omission, aggravated by abject and futile motives, by the diminished defence and by the abuse of power; conspiracy to commit ideological forgery and, finally, attempted sexual violence by an officer against a detainee.

The investigation, which started from a number of reports, also received by the Judicial Authority through the Guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, was developed through several technical wiretapping services and the acquisition of video cameras inside the institute, which allowed to collect criminal evidence for several episodes of violence against detained minors.

The proceedings are still at the preliminary investigation stage and the responsibility of the suspects will only be definitively established with an irrevocable conviction. More details will be provided during a press conference to be held at the Prosecutor's Office at 11.30 a.m. in the presence of Prosecutor Marcello Viola and officials from the State Police and Prison Police.