Last salute for murdered Carabiniere starts in Rome
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The last salute for Carabiniere Mario Cerciello Rega started on Sunday, in a burial chamber set up in a chapel in Rome, as Italian police have opened an investigation after photographs emerged showing an American teenager blindfolded and handcuffed shortly after he was arrested on suspicion of killing an officer.
The autopsy confirmed that the policeman was killed after suffering from 11 stabbings.
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18-year-old Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth admitted to the murder. The drug pusher who ‘fixed’ the appointment with death was also identified.
Meanwhile a photo of Hjorth, with his head bowed and hands cuffed behind his back, was shown in the Italian press on Sunday, with Corriere della Sera comparing it to images of prisoners at the US military facility Guantánamo Bay.
It was taken at a Rome police barracks where Hjorth and his friend, Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, were taken for questioning after being arrested on Friday for allegedly murdering Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, and injuring another officer.
The photo was then reportedly shared in an internal police group chat. The students, from San Francisco, appeared in court on Saturday, with Elder accused of repeatedly stabbing Rega while Hjorth allegedly “pummelled” the second officer.
Giovanni Nistri, the commander general of the carabinieri military police, denounced the photo and said an inquiry was under way. “This is an unacceptable episode and should be treated as such,” he told Corriere della Sera.
Police commander Francesco Gargaro told the newspaper that the officer who blindfolded Hjorth said he did so in order to avoid the teenager seeing office documents and information on the computer. Ansa news agency reported that the officer has been transferred from operational duty.
Hjorth received no sympathy from Italy’s hardline deputy prime minister and interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who attacked those who denounced the photo.
“To those who complain about the blindfolding of an arrestee, I remind them that the only victim to cry for is a man, a son and a 35-year-old husband,” he wrote on social media. “A policeman who served the homeland, who died on duty at the hands of someone who, if found guilty, deserves jail for life. With hard labour.”
