The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office has opened a case with the hypothesis of the crime of political or military espionage, aggravated by the purpose of terrorism, in the case of the drone of suspected Russian origin that, in the last month, allegedly flew over the headquarters of the European Commission's joint research center in Ispra on Lake Maggiore, in Varese five times.
The case, coordinated by the prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis and the deputy of the anti-terrorism pool Eugenio Fusco of the Prosecutor's Office headed by Marcello Viola, was opened this morning, against unknown persons, for "political or military espionage", a crime that punishes "anyone who obtains, for the purpose of political or military espionage, information that, in the interest of the security of the State or, in any case, in the political interest, internal or international, of the State, must remain secret" . The penalty is no less than 15 years and can go up to life imprisonment "if the act is committed in the interest of a State at war with the Italian State" or "if the act has compromised the preparation or war efficiency of the State, or military operations".
The aggravating circumstance of the purpose of terrorism was also contested for conduct that "may cause serious damage to a country or an international organization and is carried out with the aim of intimidating the population or forcing public authorities or an international organization to perform or abstain from performing any act or destabilizing or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic and social structures of a country or an international organization".
The first report received in recent days from the EU Joint Research Centre to the Carabinieri speaks of five overflights in a month and of a drone of suspected Russian manufacture. From the first investigations, however, it seems that those overflights were remote-controlled from a distance not excessive with respect to the research centre.
What is the Joint Research Centre?
The EU Joint Research Centre in Ispra, a town of 5,000 inhabitants on the left bank of Lake Maggiore in the province of Varese, is the third largest research centre of the European Commission after Brussels and Luxembourg.
Founded in 1957 to provide evidence-based support to EU policies, independently of national, commercial or private interests, it is now considered one of the leading research campuses in Europe and is equipped with numerous state-of-the-art laboratories and infrastructures.
The site's staff work in a variety of fields, including nuclear safety, energy efficiency, climate change and space. One of its laboratories is the so-called WaterLab, which uses advanced equipment to analyse water to determine whether it contains chemicals that are harmful to health or the environment. Another laboratory is the European solar test installation (Esti), a research centre that has been active since the 1970s and has been at the forefront of defining European and global standards for photovoltaics.
In a crisis room (ECML) scientists monitor possible natural disasters and support states both in managing emergencies and in trying to anticipate a disaster before it happens. Here scientists are involved, also through the use of satellites of the Copernicus program, in studying earthquakes, fires, floods and landslides to try to limit the damage they can cause to the population.
(Online Union)