Surveillance devices found in a house after the operation.
In February 2019, 50 house raids took place, mainly in Trentino, and seven people were arrested as part of an operation called “Renata”[1]. More people were arrested in May 2019. The people arrested were accused of participating in an associazione sovversiva (criminal association) and carrying out various arson and explosive attacks between 2016 and 2018, including an explosive attack on the headquarters of the right-wing political party Lega Nord in Treviso. Some people were also accused of forging documents.
In a trial in December 2019, several people were sentenced to prison, with sentences ranging from one year and nine months to two years and six months.
Techniques used
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Covert surveillance devices | ||
| Audio | Six hidden microphones and a camera were found in a house after the operation[2]. The microphones were found in the living room, hallway, and bedrooms. The camera was found in the intercom system. See the corresponding Ears and Eyes case. | |
| Forensics | ||
| DNA | After their arrest and imprisonment, the person accused of the explosive attack on the Lega Nord headquarters in Treviso refused to have their DNA taken[3]. Some time after the person's refusal, prison guards searched their cell and secretly replaced one comb with another, presumably to obtain the person's DNA from the hairs on the comb they took. | |
| House raid | During a house raid, cops tried to get into the basement without waking up the people in the house, then privately complained that they were unable to hide what they wanted to hide[4]. | |
| Physical violence | During a house raid, one of the arrested people was forced to his knees by a cop who put a gun to his temple[4]. | |