ROME - Another 48 police officers have been placed under investigation for their role in a raid on a school housing protesters at last year's violence-marred Group of Eight summit in Genoa.
The 48 bring to 77 the number of officers under investigation for the July 22 pre-dawn blitz at the Diaz school that became one of the most controversial episodes of the summit.
Protesters have said they were beaten during the raid, some clubbed in their sleep. Blood stained the walls, and computers and windows were smashed.
Among the accusations the new police officers face is that they failed to stop the violence during the raid, Italian news reports said.
Genoa prosecutor Francesco Meloni said the decision to advise the 48 new officers they were under investigation came as a result of the ongoing investigation and not because of any new evidence. He was responding to questions about why the officers were only now being told of the probe.
Over 300 people were arrested during the July 20-22 summit, which saw one 23-year-old protester shot dead and over 200 injured. Most of the detained were released.
Police have defended their tactics, saying they needed to respond to violent protesters who descended on Genoa to protest the Group of Eight and the negative effects of globalism.
Italy is set to host two major international meetings in the coming weeks, and there are fears of a repeat of violent protests.
The Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported Wednesday that Italy had received intelligence reports from the United States warning that Islamic extremists may try to infiltrate the protests at the U.N. food summit in Rome scheduled for June.
Security is expected to be tight for a NATO summit May 28 outside the capital.
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