Ten years ago, on 22 October 2009, Stefano Cucchi died at the Sandro Pertini hospital in Rome. He was a surveyor, he was 31 years old and had a difficult past behind him: drugs, a few complaints and a disease, epilepsy, which he had suffered from since he was 18 years old. At the time of his death he was in custody, he weighed only 40 kilos and his body was marred by the signs of a beating. Three trials were initiated around the case: the first for manslaughter against doctors and prison officers; the second against five carabinieri accused in various ways of manslaughter, forgery and slander; and the third (of which the first hearing will be held next month) for the misdirection of the investigations.
The Cucchi case, still open from a judicial point of view, has had a significant impact on Italian public opinion above all thanks to Stefano's sister, Ilaria, who for years sought the truth with courage, enduring insults and threats.
Cucchi was arrested on October 15, 2009 for drug dealing. At that time he weighed 52 kilos. According to prosecutors, after the validation hearing the boy was brutally beaten in the cells of the Court of Rome by the agents to whom he had been entrusted.
The experts appointed by the Court of Assizes in Rome, however, wrote that Cucchi did not die of the beatings, but of hunger and thirst in the Pertini Hospital, where he had been hospitalized in the Protected ward. The responsibility for the death would therefore be attributable only to the three doctors who were indicted - the experts write - who did not realize that the young man's life was in danger, despite the fact that the tests were clear. Cucchi, who refused to eat, was already in a state of severe malnutrition on the evening of October 17, but was never taken to intensive care.
“What should I ask the accused carabinieri today? Nothing – Ilaria Cucchi said in a meeting with Ansa a few days ago – Only respect for Stefano and for all their honest colleagues who do honest work every day and should not be compared to people like that”.
As for the difficulties encountered by the investigators, "we are attentive and worried about the risk of misdirections - added Fabio Anselmo, lawyer of the Cucchi family - which began in 2009, but then continued in 2015 and also in 2018. And we fear that they will still continue . There is a concrete risk that other recent misdirections may emerge. I say this for a series of circumstances and for observing what is happening around this procedure”.
The Cucchi case inspired a film entitled On my skin, released in 2018.
