Italy: Firm managing repatriation center indicted

Rome: A court in Italy has decided to proceed with the indictment of the administrators of a firm managing a Center for Repatriation (CPR) in Milan. The center has been the site of unrest and a slew of allegations regarding the mistreatment of migrants hosted there.

On March 10, a premliminary hearing for upcoming criminal proceedings regarding the management of the repatriation center CPR in Via Corelli, Milan, took place before Milan’s Tribunal.

The administrators of Martinina SRL, the company in charge of managing the CPR, have been indicted for fraud of public supplies and the obstruction of public tendering procedure.

The plaintiffs decided to sue the Ministry of the Interior for its civil responsibility following its role as supervisor of the facility run by the private entity. Information about the legal proceedings was laid out in a press release from the Association for Juridical Studies on Migration (ASGI).

The inquiry, launched by the Milanese Prosecutor’s Office, brought to light numerous irregularities regarding the exercise of the tendering contract for the management of the CPR. The investigation appeared to show the presence of numerous forged documents during the tendering phase by the firm that won it, as well as documenting the terrible living conditions of the persons detained at the Center, states the ASGI press release.

The same irregularities had already been reported by ASGI to the National Authority Against Corruption (ANAC), stating that they believed the Milan Prefecture had not conducted sufficient controls on the operation of the company Martinina SRL, which managed the CPR for two years. Despite an application to investigate these allegations by ANAC dating from July 24, the Milan Prefecture is not among the subjects under inquiry.

On December 1, 2023, a surprise search of the CPR took place by the Prefecture, officers seized documents from the branch of the firm Martinina SRL which was in charge of managing the CPR.

The investigation found that food with worms was served at the center, and that psychotropic drugs were administered with a heavy-handed approach. There was also found to be an absence of the basic services promised in the tendered contract.

The former Director of the CPR, Alessandro Forlenza, originally asked for a plea bargain, but this option was rejected.

Following the hearing on March 10, the Milanese tribunal decided to proceed with a full trial. The first hearing with a debate is planned for May 23, 2025.

“The decision to move on to the court trial confirms the importance of monitoring of CPRs undertaken by civil society, as opposed to places that are systematically kept out of public view of the community. We expect the debate will offer a way to have new responsible parties emerge,” stated Maria Pia Cecere, attorney and member of ASGI.

This additional criminal proceeding is one of at least eight others all related to Italian CPRs, places that have been surrounded by allegations of rights violations against the people who are kept there. Since 1998, more than 30 people are believed to have died in CPRs in Italy, stated ASGI in the press release.