Caserta – He doesn't seek discounts or mitigating circumstances, although his story offers a disturbing glimpse into the chain of command on that "cursed" April 6, 2020. Michele Vinciguerra, a former prison officer now accused in the maxi-trial on the violence at the Francesco Uccella prison, is the first of the 105 people on trial to admit, without mincing words, the unlawful use of force.
“I am ashamed of my actions”
Vinciguerra, who was arrested at the time of the events but chose to remain silent before the investigating judge, decided to shed the burden today, Friday, January 23, 2026. "At the time, I was confused and in shock," he explained to the court, "but I promised myself I would tell things as they happened."
And the words are like stones: "I've implemented terrible containment actions and terrible attacks. I don't want to justify myself."
The admission clashes with the defense line maintained so far by almost all the defendants, despite surveillance camera footage showing the corridors of the Nile ward transformed into a tunnel of beatings and humiliation for inmates who had protested out of fear of Covid.
The orders from above: “Blow them to death.”
But Vinciguerra's confession doesn't stop at self-accusation. The former agent reconstructs the dynamics of the punitive expedition, implicating the operational leadership of that day. Recalled to duty urgently via chat by Commander Manganelli, Vinciguerra was equipped with a helmet and shield and placed in the "Support Group," composed largely of agents from Secondigliano and other institutions.
"We answered only to our superiors, not to the Santa Maria officers," he specifies. And it is here that the name of Paone, one of the commanders of the Support Group (accused in a parallel case), comes up. According to Vinciguerra, the order given was peremptory: the prisoners were to be taken to the social rooms, made to kneel, facing the wall, and with their hands on the backs of their necks. "He told us: 'If they disobey orders, you have to beat them.' It was a precise order."
The mystery of the cameras
The most dramatic passage in the deposition concerns the alleged guarantee of impunity. Vinciguerra reports a sentence that, if confirmed, would demonstrate complete awareness of the operation's illegality. "Paone reassured us that we could proceed calmly," the defendant recounts. "He said, 'Commissioner Costanzo has guaranteed that the internal surveillance cameras are turned off.'"
A revelation that made prosecutor Daniela Pannone jump out of her seat: "You are revealing very strong circumstances today for the first time," the magistrate commented.
The beatings and slaps to colleagues
The horror continues in the account of the "social" nature of the third section, Nilo. The inmates, on their knees, talked and moaned. "I hit them. I followed orders with great mortification," Vinciguerra admits.
Pressed by prosecutor Alessandro Milita on why he had obeyed such blatantly violent directives, the former officer spoke of an adaptation to the "modus operandi of the Support Group." A climate of intimidation that did not spare even his less "zealous" colleagues.
Vinciguerra recounts being left alone at a certain point and loosening his grip on the inmates: "I received two slaps from Paone. He said to me, 'Do you see they're talking? What did I tell you? You have to beat them with truncheons.'"
"I overdid it, I struck forcefully but unintentionally," the man concludes, unable to count the victims of his fury. A fury that today, six years later, has turned into public shame.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
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