The Court of Appeal of Naples rejected the request for precautionary measures advanced by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere against 28 prison police officers.
All believed to be involved in the violence that occurred on April 6, 2020 in the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison, during the Covid-19 lockdown. The officers, on duty at the facilities in Secondigliano, Santa Maria Capua Vetere and Avellino, had been accused of having participated in a repressive operation that degenerated into serious abuses against the detainees.
This is the second part of an investigation that has already led to a maxi-trial with 105 defendants, mostly prison officers. The new investigative line concerns in particular officers filmed by cameras during the "extraordinary search" that day, but not initially identified because they were protected by helmets and truncheons. In total, 41 officers are under investigation in this second phase.
In March 2023, prosecutors Alessandro Milita, Daniela Pannone and Alessandra Pinto had requested precautionary measures – including house arrest and residence bans – for 28 of the suspects. However, in May 2024, investigating judge Alessia Stadio of the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere had rejected the requests, deeming the precautionary needs to be outdated given the temporal distance from the events, which had occurred over four years earlier.
The Prosecutor's Office then appealed to the Naples Review Court, which confirmed the GIP's decision, again denying the application of precautionary measures. The case remains at the center of a heated debate, while both the maxi-trial and the investigations into the new investigative line continue.
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