Italian ministers accused of ‘serious blunder’ as police officer arrested for murder

Original article by Angela Giuffrida in Rome

The arrest of an Italian police officer on suspicion of murder over the fatal shooting of a Moroccan man has prompted a row after the opposition accused Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government of exploiting the case for political ends.

Abderrahim Mansouri, 28, was shot in the head by Carmelo Cinturrino, assistant chief of Mecenate police station, during a police drugs patrol in the Rogoredo area of Milan in late January. Cinturrino originally said he had acted in self-defence after Mansouri pulled a gun on him.

The case was cited by the government as an example of why a proposed law aimed at giving more protection to police officers using weapons in self-defence should be swiftly passed.

But prosecutors in Milan said Cinturrino’s version of events had been contradicted by witnesses, who said Mansouri had not been holding any weapon during the incident and had been shot as he tried to escape. Prosecutors allege that a gun found at the scene – which fired only blanks – was planted there by Cinturrino to support his story.

They say that further investigations had indicated that Mansouri had feared the police officer and wanted to report him for allegedly demanding drugs and protection money.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Milan’s chief prosecutor, Marcello Viola, said: “It is with a sense of sadness that I participate at this press conference, when a member of the state, in this case the police officer, is involved in a matter of such gravity and sensitivity.”

Prosecutors said the determining factor in Cinturrino’s arrest on Monday was evidence, including video surveillance, showing that “the victim was not holding a weapon when he was attacked” and that the weapon “was brought and placed next to the body at a later stage”.

Speaking via his lawyer, Cinturrino apologised on Tuesday. “I was supposed to be the one enforcing the law, but I made a mistake,” he said, adding that he had betrayed the trust of his fellow officers. His lawyer, Piero Porciani, said he had fired out of fear, adding: “We all know that what he did afterwards was a mistake.” His client had never taken money from anyone, he added.

Cinturrino’s statement followed one on Monday night from Meloni, who said that if the allegations were confirmed “then we would be faced with a very serious crime, a betrayal of the nation and the dignity and honour of our law enforcement officers”.

Immediately after Mansouri’s killing, members of Meloni’s coalition, especially the deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, sided with the officer and criticised magistrates for starting a criminal investigation.

A measure in the government’s latest security bill, approved in early February but which still needs to be officially enacted, exempts police officers or any other citizen from being automatically registered as a suspect by prosecutors if they used a weapon or force in self-defence.

Elly Schlein, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party, accused the government of using the Rogoredo case for “political speculation”, while Giuseppe Conte, who leads the Five Star Movement, said the government had made a “serious blunder”.

Conte added: “It’s a very serious matter, because they want to pass sentences that suit their politics, increase support and promote propaganda.”

The case comes amid heated debate over an upcoming referendum on the overhaul of the justice system, which detractors argue is a way for the Meloni government to weaken the judiciary and exert political influence.