'Lenient' Italy brutality verdicts decried

GENOA, Italy, July 15 (UPI) -- Italian activists say they're dismayed by what they call lenient sentences given to police accused of torturing arrested 2001 Group of Eight summit protesters.

The police sentences stemming from their suppression of violent protests at the Genoa summit were called "absurd," "disgraceful" and "a whitewash" by an array of anti-globalization and human rights groups, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday.

"It is an absurd and disgraceful sentence, contrary to all the evidence and unworthy of a civilized country," said Communist Party member Pino Sgobio in reaction to a Monday court verdict acquitting 30 of the 45 accused state officials.

That sentiment was echoed by the leftist La Repubblica daily newspaper, which condemned a decision by prosecutors to seek only "abuse of authority" charges against police rather than torture, because "torture" wasn't officially listed as a crime in Italy.

"If (torture) had been on the books before 2001, the highly serious events at (the) Bolzaneto (detention center) would certainly have been judged differently," it said.

The requested jail terms were also cut by one-third to a total of 24 years and no police officer will serve time because of the statute of limitations, ANSA reported.