PALERMO – An investigation into 35 staff at the Sister Rosina La Grua care home in Castelbuono accused, in various capacities, of torture, ill-treatment, kidnapping, corruption, aggravated fraud to obtain public funds and embezzlement has led to 17 arrests, police said. The investigating judge ordered seizure of the home and its financial resources amounting to over 6.7 million euros.

 There were two lines of investigation. Firstly, police focussed on the mistreatment of the 23 disabled people who lived there. Wiretapping revealed a worker saying, "it is a madhouse, a Nazi concentration camp."

 The staff of the facility, who looked after guests with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, systematically resorted to punishments such as fasting, physical harm and insults. In several cases the patients were locked up in a room of a few square metres called ‘the relaxation room,’ both during the day and at night, completely empty and without toilets. The victims were prisoners, often for several hours, in the dark and without any assistance, begging to go out, begging for water or food, having to relieve themselves on the floor.

 The investigating judge of Palermo said, "it’s no exaggeration to say the people who live in the centre are subjected to a lifestyle contrary to the principle of humanity.”

 “Every day they serve the penalty of their disability by being subjected to systematic torture that aggravate their mental condition and devastate their body.”

 The second line of investigation concerns the administrator and the members of the non-profit organization who used false documentation to obtain 6.2 million euros worth of public money over the last five years.

 A portion of this sum, about 470 thousand euros, instead of being reinvested into the care home, was spent on cars, holidays, food, wine, jewellery and gifts.

 Ten suspects were taken to prison, seven were subjected to house arrest, five were subject to the obligation to stay in the municipality of residence and thirteen are recipients of the interdicting measure of the prohibition of exercising professional activities for one year.

ln