The Carabinieri's report on recent incidents of "self-dealing justice" and patrols in Rozzano, a town in the Milan hinterland, has arrived at the Milan prosecutor's office. This phenomenon began last Wednesday with the beating of a Moroccan man by passersby because he was identified as the man who had shortly before attacked a 40-year-old woman, who was later rescued. In the report, which precedes the opening of an investigation, the officers, who in recent days identified two individuals as the perpetrators of the attack on the foreigner, hypothesized the crime of battery, aggravated by racial hatred.
The note is now being considered by Prosecutor Marcello Viola, who will coordinate the investigation with a prosecutor he will appoint. The hypothesis formulated by the Carabinieri is initial and provisional and may be modified or expanded after the necessary investigations.
On Wednesday evening, there were about a hundred people in the square, and the toll was two North Africans beaten. The following evening, the number of residents doubled; they marched in the Aler neighborhood, and someone set fire to a makeshift bed at a construction site. These are all incidents that the Prosecutor's Office will now investigate.
"The patrols are not Rozzano": Mattia Ferretti, the mayor of the town just outside Milan, is keen to point this out. "I'm happy that everyone has distanced themselves," he told ANSA, "and yesterday there was a march, or rather a walk, peaceful and intercultural, where the residents of Rozzano were present."
Yesterday evening, there was a new demonstration, but a different one, with more participants and a different tone. "Yesterday," he continues, "Rozzano wanted to make it clear that it isn't frequented by violent people. The message was sent that the institutions are responsible for fighting crime." Of course, this doesn't mean there aren't problems. "Rozzano has 5,500 social housing units for a population of 40,000," Ferretti recalls. "It has objective critical issues," which is why it was designated a red zone and received "funds to combat degradation" from the government, through the Caivano decree. "The institutions are very attentive, and I am in constant contact with the police commissioner and the prefect. I immediately distanced myself from anything that could lead to violence. The patrols," Ferretti concludes, "are unacceptable. The right to demonstrate is sacrosanct, but it must happen peacefully and with authorization. And yesterday, the families and good people in Rozzano demonstrated that they are present and peaceful."
