Italian prosecutors are considering criminal trials for health officials after grieving relatives of coronavirus victims demanded justice for their negligence

  • 45,000 joined NOI Denunceremo Facebook group to gather their testimonies
  • The group was created by Luca Fusco whose father died from coronavirus
  • The aim isn't to target health workers but leaders who underestimated the virus 
Italian prosecutors are considering criminal trials for health officials after grieving relatives of coronavirus victims demanded justice for their negligence. 
More than 45,000 people have joined NOI Denunceremo - meaning We will report - which is a Facebook group where testimonies are being gathered for magistrates.
The group was created by Luca Fusco whose father died from coronavirus in Bergamo, in the Lombardy region of Italy which has been worst-hit by the virus. 
An official probe has already begun at a hospital in Alzano Lombardo in Bergamo - where coronavirus symptoms were not recognised and the disease spread through the facility and beyond. 
Prosecutors in Lombardy are also investigating possible crimes of negligence and manslaughter following hundreds of deaths in care homes.
The aim is to target people in leadership who underestimated the virus rather than healthcare workers. But lawyers have already cautioned that the challenge will be to establish who exactly should take responsibility. 
It comes with the country's total death toll now standing at 25,085, the second highest in the world after that of the United States. 
Italian prosecutors are considering criminal trials for health officials after grieving relatives of coronavirus victims demanded justice for their negligence. Pictured: a patient in Catania
Italian prosecutors are considering criminal trials for health officials after grieving relatives of coronavirus victims demanded justice for their negligence. Pictured: a patient in Catania
The Facebook page reads: 'This group was born out of a need for justice and truth to give peace to our dead who could not even have a decent burial following the coronavirus pandemic. 
'When everything is over, whoever made a mistake and turned his head to the other side will have to pay. We will denounce and ask for justice.' 
The testimonies being shared share similarities such as the virus being mistaken for ordinary flu and people at home suffering from a fever advised to take paracetamol. 
The aim of the group is not to target health workers, but people in leadership positions who may have underestimated the virus, Fusco told The Guardian
'The health workers are victims as much as those who have died,' he said. 'But as the healthcare system in Italy is decentralised, it would have been those who lead the regions who set the guidelines for hospitals. 
More than 45,000 people have joined NOI Denunceremo - meaning We will report - which is a Facebook group where testimonies are being gathered for magistrates. Pictured: testing in Trento
More than 45,000 people have joined NOI Denunceremo - meaning We will report - which is a Facebook group where testimonies are being gathered for magistrates. Pictured: testing in Trento
So if a magistrate decides there is a case, then the responsibility would be at regional level.' 
An official investigation at one hospital in Alzano Lombardo in Bergamo has already begun - where coronavirus symptoms were not recognised and the disease spread through the hospital and beyond. 
Prosecutors in Lombardy are also investigating possible crimes of negligence and manslaughter following hundreds of deaths in care homes.
Legal action is also being planned in regards to the 144 heath care workers who have died as a result of the virus - mostly due to lack of protective equipment available at the start of the crisis according to doctors' associations and unions. 
Robert Lingard, an Italian who lives in London, has filed legal action with a prosecutor after two of his relatives died and three others were in intensive care.
The prosecutor will help establish whether campaigns in Milan and Bergamo encouraging people to carry on as normal, such as going to bars and restaurants or shopping, during the early stage of the outbreak constitute criminal negligence.
Legal action is also being planned in regards to the 144 heath care workers who have died as a result of the virus. Pictured: law enforcement in Venice during the lockdown
Legal action is also being planned in regards to the 144 heath care workers who have died as a result of the virus. Pictured: law enforcement in Venice during the lockdown
He said that public authorities were aware of the 'aggressiveness' of the virus due to data coming out of China and that large scale containment would be necessary but nonetheless seemed to 'act in denial'. 
Elena Gazzolla, a lawyer in Codogno, the Lombardy town where Italy's outbreak emerged, said the challenge was establishing who should take responsibility.
She expects a lot of legal action to be taken by various groups once the emergency is over.
'Lawyers are studying the issue and collecting documents to see if there could be eventual judicial processes or compensation for damages,' said Gazzolla, who has so far been contacted by five people who have lost loved ones. 'There are many, many aspects to consider.'

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