Liberty and social justice
(00:54)

This letter, written by the father of Aldo Bianzino who recently died in prison, is a reflection on the nature of the State. What is the State? What does the “State” actually mean to each of us in our daily lives? I feel its weight on my shoulders now, just like that of an old coat or a worn out raincoat with holes in the pockets. An abstract concept, something literary and distant. A contraption for which the operating instructions have gone missing. The word “State” is increasingly becoming like the proverbial “short blanket that is shrinking by the day, revealing more and more of this Country’s most basic instincts.

"Dear Beppe Grillo,
The recent case of Stefano Cucchi and the even more recent one of Giuseppe Saladino in Parma (“Il Manifesto” newspaper of 11 November) took my mind back to the cases of Marcello Lanzi and my son, Aldo Bianzino, who also died in prison under circumstances that still demand some sort of explanation (who knows when and above all if such explanation will ever come). Therefore, in order to examine Aldo’s case, a number of issues need to be clarified.
Dr. Giuseppe Petrazzini, the Public Prosecutor that ordered Aldo’s arrest together with his partner on the evening of Friday 12 October 2007, is the very same magistrate that is handling the investigation into my son's death during the night between the 13th and 14th. Aldo had been locked up in the solitary confinement cells of the "Capanne" Prison in Perugia. He had been examined by a doctor, who had found him to be fit and healthy, and he had also been visited by an attorney, to whom he had spoken at about 17h00 on the Saturday. No video recordings whatsoever are available that show what happened thereafter, nor after his death. It appears that the cell was isolated and sealed. It also appears that the special investigation department of the Carabinieri was not called in to carry out any investigations. According to the other detainees who were locked up in that section at the time, Aldo had rung the alarm bell on numerous occasions during the course of that night and had asked for medical assistance, and was allegedly told to “go to hell” by the corridor assistant on duty, namely Prison Warder Gian Luca Cantore, who is currently under investigation. The fact remains that at around 8 o’clock on the Sunday morning, the two doctors on duty who were arriving to start their shift discovered Aldo’s body, wearing only an item of underwear (note that this was mid October, not mid August). His clothing was found in his cell, carefully folded (something that Aldo had never, ever done during the 44 years of his life). The two doctors did their best to resuscitate him, but eventually they were forced to stop trying: Aldo was dead. The autopsy carried out the following day turned up some controversial findings: first they mentioned something about him having two broken vertebrae, then two broken ribs and then everything was denied. What is certain, however is that he suffered a brain haemorrhage, as well as another 200ml liver haemorrhage. No outward signs of any beating or violence (the professionals of the C.I.A. know exactly how it’s done). Now, the brain haemorrhage was attributed to an aneurysm and the liver haemorrhage to a very clumsy attempt at artificial respiration, something that the two doctors in question deny in the strongest possible terms (not surprising, since these are doctors, not just some unqualified members of staff), however, no one else admitted to having made any similar attempt. This sort of thing can obviously happen when one is in the hands of the “forces of Law and Order”, we’ve seen it in the past, just think back to the G8 meeting in Genoa, as confirmed by the discussion recently recorded at the Teramo prison (“inmates are not thrashed up here in the cells, but downstairs!). The brain haemorrhage could well have been the result of stress due to the beating endured by other parts of his body. Just imagine the anguish and the terror that any person would experience under those conditions. Anyway, the one thing that I believe I can say with a clear conscience is that Aldo was murdered in a very violent environment where “omerta” reigns supreme, so much so that we have not even been able to find out the names of the staff members who were on duty in the prison that night. As regards Dr. Petrazzini, in my opinion, if he had any shred of dignity he would hand the case over to someone else and resign from his post instead of pushing to have the case declared closed, as he has been doing.
The real assassins, however, are the people that sought and got a “drug” law like the one we’re living with at the moment, individuals that, in their profound ignorance, think only in global terms without making any distinction whatsoever. A fascist, clerical law that is only worthy of an unethical State, or worse, a State that jails (as occurred recently) some poor devil who grows a few cannabis plants for his own consumption, but doesn’t lift a finger when other types of drugs (heavy stuff such as cocaine and other substances) do the rounds quite freely at the little parties thrown by the rich and powerful. What I would like to say is that, in any event, a Country that considers drug use, even just marijuana, and “illegal immigration” to be a crime, even through the individuals involved may be blameless and almost always do it to escape from their circumstances, any Country that remains ultimately responsible for the lives and well-being of the people in its custody, any Country that refuses to recognise torture as being a heinous crime, any Country that protects the strong and the powerful instead of the weak and the needy, cannot consider itself to be civilised and has no right to expect it’s citizens (or subjects?) to feel any love whatsoever for their homeland." Yours faithfully, Giuseppe Bianzino, Vercelli, 16 November 2009