In 2019, three people were arrested as part of an operation called “Prometeo”[1]. They were accused of sending parcel bombs to prosecutors and a director of the prison administration in 2017. One of them was also accused of carrying out an arson attack on an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in 2016.
In 2021, the person accused of the ATM arson was sentenced to 5 years in prison and the other people were acquitted (for lack of evidence[2]) for the parcel bombs, although one of them had spent two and a half years in prison before being acquitted.
Techniques used
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence fabrication | Investigators distorted conversations obtained through phone interception to make them look suspicious[3]. For example, during a phone conversation involving one of the defendants, the phrase “tutta questa tensione sociale prima o poi scoppierà” (“all this social tension will, sooner or later, explode”) was said, which was only partially transcribed in the investigation files as “prima o poi scoppierà” (“will, sooner or later, explode”). | |
| Forensics | ||
| DNA | DNA traces were used to convict the person accused of burning an ATM[4]. | |
| Mass surveillance | ||
| Video surveillance | Two of the people were allegedly seen on video surveillance leaving a store where investigators believe the envelopes used to prepare the parcel bombs were purchased[3]. | |