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CRIME

Verona teens accused of burning homeless man to death ‘as a prank’

Police in Zevio near Verona have questioned two teenagers, one 13 and the other 17, who allegedly set fire to a car in which a homeless man had taken shelter.

Published: 12 January 2018 17:53 CET
Verona teens accused of burning homeless man to death ‘as a prank’
A rough sleeper in Rome. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

The man, 64-year-old Ahamed Fdil, was found dead inside the vehicle on the evening of December 13th. Police said his charred body was partially outside, suggesting that he tried to escape.

The younger of the two boys has admitted lighting paper towels and throwing them at the abandoned Fiat Brava, which Fdil regularly used as a shelter, police sources told the press on Friday.

He told investigators that “we only wanted to prank him”, according to the Corriere del Veneto.

Neither boy has been arrested. The case was referred to the regional juvenile prosecutor’s office, though since Italy does not consider children legally responsible for crimes until the age of 14, the younger boy cannot be charged.

Fdil, a Moroccan living in Italy who reportedly became homeless after being laid off from a local factory, was known to smoke and drink heavily, and police initially suspected that the fire started accidentally.

Yet witnesses reported seeing local youths harassing Fdil over several months, repeatedly following him and throwing firecrackers. Investigators reportedly have videos showing some of the abuse, according to Verona Sera.

Local residents told the news site that Fdil was well known and liked in the neighbourhood, where he was nicknamed “good old Gary”.

His shocking death, which made headlines across Italy, has been classified as murder. 

POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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