It took just under a year and a half to complete the investigation into the Cutro massacre, where 98 people, including 35 children, died on February 26, 2023. One day was enough, however, to find the scapegoat for that tragedy: the police. The pasdaran of landings at all costs only needed a few of the words used by the magistrates of the Crotone Public Prosecutor’s Office to attack the six suspects. Who were notified yesterday of the closure of the investigation: they are all members of the police force and to be precise, they are four members of the Guardia di Finanza and two of the Coast Guard: specifically, they are Giuseppe Grillo, Alberto Lippolis, Antonino Lopresti, Nicolino Vardaro, Francesca Perfido and Nicola Nania. Accused of negligent shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
The investigators, coordinated by the chief prosecutor Giuseppe Capoccia, have made it clear that the “massacre could have been avoided”. The prosecution is scrutinizing the behavior of the suspects, which if they had been “diligently maintained would certainly have led to the use of coast guard assets to intercept the vessel, certainly suitable for safe navigation”.
Words, as mentioned, that provided the perfect pretext for the preachers of welcome. Among the first to speak out was the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein: «The victims of the Cutro shipwreck, therefore, could have been avoided if the authorities in charge had acted as they were supposed to. We have been asking for truth and justice since, on the night between 25 and 26 February 2023, one of the greatest tragedies in terms of number of deaths took place here, on our coasts. We are still waiting for Minister Piantedosi (Matteo, head of the Interior Ministry, ed.) to answer the question we have been asking since the day of the shipwreck: why didn’t the most adequate rescue vehicles of the coast guard leave? The Government has been silent since then, but we will not stop and we will continue to demand to know the truth». Similar tones and content were used by the leader of +Europa Riccardo Magi: «It is certainly important to ascertain any personal responsibilities, but it is equally necessary to identify the enormous political responsibilities underlying the failure to intervene in the rescue. Was everything in the power of the Italian authorities done to avoid that massacre? We asked President Meloni in the Chamber in the days immediately following the Cutro massacre. The answer is no».
Opposite reactions were recorded among some members of the executive. “I have great respect for the judiciary, I defend its work and independence. Likewise – declared the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti – I defend with conviction the work of the Guardia di Finanza and the Port Authority, certain that they have always acted exclusively for the public good as they do every day together with the other police forces”. The deputy prime minister and leader of the League Matteo Salvini also intervened on the matter: “Not only do they risk their lives every day to save others, but they even run the risk of being arrested in the event of an accident. My unconditional support and my embrace to the women and men of the Coast Guard and the Guardia di Finanza, as well as to (…) every other armed force and law enforcement”. The mayor of Cutro, Antonio Ceraso, continues to be inconsolable over what happened: “I am not consoled by the fact that we find a scapegoat for the Steccato di Cutro massacre. All this will not bring the 98 dead back to life.”
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2024-07-24 22:21:53
