Did fascists infiltrate the Genoa police force?

The streets of Genoa during G8

Four of the five British citizens who were detained in Genoa after the G8 riots flew home this morning - to the news that an Italian politician is to demand an explanation in the Senate for the behaviour of the Police in the city.

Lawyers in Genoa have already accused the authorities of acting illegally in the way they arrested anti-globalisation protestors, treated them in custody, and kept them incommunicado.

Abuse

But today an anonymous source in the police force gave the Italian newspaper "La Republica" a terrifying account of abuse by officers when they raided a school being used as a press centre - including banging the heads of protestors on walls, urinating on one of them, and doing nothing to help a young woman vomiting blood.

Armed police containing the violence

The informant suggested that the police were acting in revenge for several days of street battles.

Confidential

Such stories have caused a scandal in Italy. Francesco Martone, a Green Party Senator, who represents the Genoa Constituency spoke to this programme and told us that he'd been given confidential documents suggesting that fascist groups had infiltrated the Genoa Police:

He's put down a question to be answered in the Senate in Rome this afternoon.

To hear Nick Clarke's interview with the Senator click on the audio