Five policemen from the Italian city of Verona have been placed under house arrest, 17 more people are at large, they are accused of torturing the people they detained, especially immigrants, writes the Italian press, quoted by the AFP and ANSA agencies. to Agerpres. Among the victims is a Romanian who lives on the streets of Verona and who told the story of the torture he was subjected to.

The arrested police officers are an inspector and four agents who are accused of punching and abusing detainees during various interventions between July 2022 and March 2023. The other 17 police officers are under investigation for failing to prevent the attacks, according to the daily La Stampa.

The Italian police forced a Romanian to urinate in the corner of the cell, beat him and dragged him there to wipe the urine on his face

According to La Stampa, one of the victims is a Romanian man who tells how the police forced him to urinate in the corner of his cell in the police station, refusing to take him to the toilet. The police would pounce on him and drag him to the same corner of the cell to wipe the urine off his face.

Corriere della Sera writes about a Romanian humiliated by the police, his name is Nicolae Daju, he is 56 years old and has been living on the streets of Verona since 2020.

• “I sleep where I can, sometimes at the station, sometimes on other nights, I just need to find shelter. To eat, there is the Charity Round. Meanwhile, I’m looking for a job as a manual laborer, but it’s not easy at my age,” he told Italian journalists.

Daju’s meeting with the police took place on October 14, 2022.

• “I was in a bar with my friend, and suddenly we see two officers coming towards us: one big and tall, the other small. They asked for my documents and immediately ordered me to get into the car with them. I walked fifty meters, they stopped the car and beat me. Simply, for no reason…”.

He says that as soon as he got to the station, he was beaten again:

• “They hit me with their fists, then hit me on the back. One of them had a spray can in his hand: he hit me in the face and I lost consciousness. I think it was a drug or something like that (…)
• I had to go to the bathroom and was finally told to do it there in the corner. I did, but then one of the guards threw me to the floor and pressed my face against the wet floor to clean it up.”

Covered in bruises and urine, Nikolae Daju remained on the floor. That evening, the law enforcement officers charged him with “drunkenness in public places” and because he refused to sign the protocol drawn up by them.

• “They beat, sprayed with pepper spray, insulted. And I still don’t know why they did it, I don’t understand…” says the Romanian.

Viral images

• “If these facts are confirmed, it will be extremely serious,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi responded on Wednesday.

According to him, such behavior “affects the dignity of the victims, as well as the honor and reputation” of thousands of honest police officers.

Just a week ago, a Brazilian transgender woman filed a complaint in Milan against Italian police officers who beat her, the violence was caught on video and the images went viral.

The footage shows three policemen surrounding the 41-year-old woman, hitting her on the head and ribs with rubber batons and spraying tear gas in her face as she sat down in the street with her hands up. (Photo: Dreamstime.com)