CONEGLIANO (TREVISO) – The circle for the beating in Udine is closing in on Samuele Battistella. It would have been the 20-year-old originally from Vittorio Veneto, resident in Mareno, who threw the punch against Shimpei Tominaga, a 56-year-old Japanese entrepreneur, who hit his head on the pavement when he fell and is now kept alive by machines in the intensive care unit of Udine hospital. Battistella was in the group of five young people – three from Treviso, in addition to him, Daniel Wedam of the same age from Conegliano and Abdallah Djouamaa, 22 years old from Vittorio Veneto but resident in Conegliano, together with two Ukrainians, 29 years old Ivan Boklac and 30 years old Petrov Oleksandr Vitaliyovjch, who live in Pescara but work in Udine – protagonists of a brawl that had led Vitaliyovjch to seek refuge in a place, the Buonissimo Kebab, in the area of via delle Pelliccerie. The 56-year-old, together with two other people, had tried to quell the attack. And at that point he was punched in the face, suffering head trauma and multiple fractures.
THE INTERROGATION
After being stopped by the police, the three people from Treviso were arrested. The validation hearing was held yesterday in Udine prison. «Mr Battistella responded to the investigating judge’s questions by explaining how the events unfolded», says the lawyer Giovanni Stellato, currently appointed ex officio, without going further in this moment of pain for the family of the Japanese entrepreneur. While Wedam made use of the right not to respond. Judge Carlotta Silva’s ruling on the request for precautionary custody in prison for the three Treviso citizens, advanced by prosecutor Laura Collini, is expected by today. The Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into what happened. At the moment for aggravated brawl and very serious injuries.
FLIGHT HOPES
If the 56-year-old doesn’t make it, however, the charge would automatically be transformed into manslaughter. His condition is truly desperate. His family members are arriving at this time. But hopes, unfortunately, are dwindling. Doctors are monitoring the situation to understand if there is still brain activity. The position of the two Ukrainians, however, is different: non-custodial measures and a ban on residence in Friuli Venezia Giulia were requested for them. Vitaliyovjch also reconstructed the facts before the investigating judge.
«He explained his position – specifies the lawyer Anna Caserta – he represented that he had been hit repeatedly and that he had also been helped by some passers-by, who advised him to enter the pub. Here he was chased by others. And then they also attacked the offended person.” “He regrets and is very sorry for what happened – she adds – thinking that in the end he was the intended victim”. The Treviso group is already well known to the police. In the past he had already been the protagonist of beatings and robberies in the Marche. And now even in Udine they are trying to crack down on safety. The decision was taken in the provincial committee for order and safety held yesterday. In the center there will also be the presence of the army, together with mixed foot patrols of carabinieri and police who will further guard the nightlife streets. Furthermore, a new municipal ordinance is ready to limit the sale of alcoholic beverages in clubs, with a stop from 1am in the center and from 6pm in the area surrounding the station. Finally, among other things, there is also a crackdown on the collection of glass outside bars to limit the presence of bottles and consequently the risk of them being used as improper weapons.
