Former Premier Giuseppe Conte and the
then Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, together with other
suspects including Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, caused the
deaths of some 50 people with their alleged mishandling of the
COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, a prosecutor in the outbreak
city of Bergamo said Thursday.
They and other officials, 17 in all, "culpably caused the death
of about fifty people", said the Bergamo prosecutor's office.
Relatives of the first COVID victims stood outside the office
and thanked the investigators who have placed Conte, Speranza
and another 20 suspects under investigation for gross
manslaughter negligence and culpable manslaughter.
"For three years no one had listened to us, while today we want
to be grateful to the Bergamo Public Prosecutor's Office", they
said.
There was great emotion in Piazza Dante, outside the office.
"The work of the Public Prosecutor's Office is not an
indictment"' they said, "but a reconstruction" of what they
called the 'Bergamasco massacre'.
Family members from the Bergamo area and neighbouring provinces
were present.
Bergamo Chief Prosecutor Antonio Chiappani said Thursday an
investigation into the government's handling of the Covid-19
outbreak in early 2020 could not be shelved given the very large
number of victims and the reports from consultants saying the
deaths could have been avoided.
"In the face of the thousands of deaths and the consultations
that tell us these could possibly have been prevented, we could
not end by throwing out the investigation," the prosecutor told
the Agorà television programme.
Chiappani has led a three-year probe into the alleged failure of
former premier Conte and his government to take adequate
measures to contain the spread of the virus by creating a "red
zone" in two areas in the province of Bergamo hit hardest by the
outbreak.
In all, 22 people are under investigation, including Conte
himself, the then health minister Speranza, Lombardy Governor
Fontana, former Lombardy councillor Giulio Gallera, president of
the Higher Health Institute (ISS), Italy's main centre for
research, control and technical-scientific advice on public
health, Silvio Brusaferro, and president of the Higher Health
Council, the health ministry's senior advisory body, Franco
Locatelli.
There was an "inadequate risk assessment", Chiappani said
separately to Radio24.
"Our aim," he said, "was to reconstruct what happened and to
give answers to the people of Bergamo, who were affected in an
unbelievable way. We wanted to assess whether, as we believe,
charges can be upheld on grounds of this inadequate risk
assessment," continued the chief prosecutor.
Chiappani said an emergency decree of 23 February had made it
possible to create "red zones" by shutting off specific areas to
contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Investigators claim in March 2020 Conte, Speranza and other top
officials underestimated the contagiousness of Covid-19, failing
to create a "red zone" in Nembro and Alzano Lombardo, two areas
hit hardest by the outbreak.
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