In recent weeks, the four comrades under restrictive house arrest since Aug. 8 for Operation Scripta Scelera were notified of the decree setting the immediate trial and consequently the start of the trial at the Massa court, before the monocratic judge, next Jan. 9, 2024. A total of ten anarchists are involved in the investigation: in addition to the four under house arrest, there are five comrades under the obligation to stay overnight (one among them currently also under the obligation to sign) and one comrade under investigation at large. For all of them, Federico Manotti, prosecutor of the Genoa Public Prosecutor’s Office, had requested arrest in prison for subversive association for the purpose of terrorism, incitement to commit a crime with the aggravating factor of the purpose of terrorism, clandestine printing, as well as only for some also offending the honor and prestige of the president of the republic — offenses allegedly consumed with the editing and distribution of the internationalist anarchist fortnightly “Bezmotivny.” The request for immediate trial concerns only the charges of aggravated incitement to commit a crime and insulting the honor and prestige of the president of the republic.
Recall that the immediate trial is a special procedure characterized by the absence of the preliminary hearing: in fact, it goes from the preliminary investigation to the trial hearing. This procedure is actionable only in the event that the prosecutor and the investigating judge, who must validate the request, believe they have overwhelming evidence of the suspect’s guilt and that he or she is in a state of detention (in prison or under house arrest).
In the recent past, the Rome prosecutor’s office had the tracotence to proceed with this formula in the context of Operation Bialystok, but this did not bring great luck to the inquisitors. Lately, the trial of comrade Marco Marino, known as Zac, has also been taking place under immediate trial.
However, this is the first time, as far as we can remember, that in the context of an anti-anarchist investigation the immediate trial is being triggered for only part of the suspects, breaking the investigation into several strands. This is an obvious attempt to sap solidarity and, above all, to quickly dismiss a part of the proceedings with a precedent that can be used in the future to plug the anarchist press. Continue reading “Italy: Operation Scripta Scelera – immediate trial sought for Gaia, Gino, Luigi and Paolo. The trial will begin on Jan. 9”