The investigation into managing the Covid-19 emergency in the Bergamo area was closed during the pandemic outbreak in March 2020. However, the former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and the former Minister of Health Roberto Speranza are under investigation in the scope of the inquiry into managing the Covid emergency in the province of Bergamo.

After three years, the investigation into the practices of the government of the time during the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy concluded. There are about twenty suspects, according to what has been leaked. There are also former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, now leader of the M5s, and the former Minister of Health Roberto Speranza.

Together with them also the governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, the former councillor Giulio Gallera, the president of the Higher Institute of Health, Silvio Brusaferro and the president of the Higher Council of Health, Franco Locatelli, in addition to the former coordinator of the Scientific Technical Committee Agostino Miozzo, to the former head of the Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli and Francesco Maraglino, former director of Office 5 – Prevention of Communicable Diseases and International Prophylaxis. The notices of the conclusion of the investigation are being notified,

With a press release yesterday evening, the Chief Public Prosecutor of Bergamo announced that the overall investigation that it had launched for three years into a flaw in managing the epidemic has concluded. In the statement, it was emphasised that the study was completed at this stage and that it was not an indictment.

The investigation was conducted on three counts: failure to implement rigorous measures on peak case days in Val Seriana near Bergamo, closure and reopening of the Alzano hospital, and lack of an updated epidemic prevention plan.

The investigations by the Guardia di Finanza concerned three plans: one strictly local, one regional and one national. The investigators focused not only on the deaths between February and April 2020 in the Bergamo area; 6,200 more deaths were recorded than the average for the same period in previous years and on the case of the Alzano hospital closed and reopened within a few hours. But above all, they investigated the failure to establish a red zone equal to the one arranged in the Lodi area – in a room with several infections comparable to that of the Lodi area, which was immediately sealed instead.

On 23 February, two days after “patient 1 of Codogno, the first two cases were ascertained at the” Pesenti Fenaroli” of Alzano Lombardo. The hospital was immediately closed and reopened a few hours later for no reason; this is the hypothesis on which the accusation is based, without being sanitised. Regarding the omissions, as Crisanti underlined, if the red zone had been established in Val Seriana, as of February 27, the dead would have been 4,148 fewer and as of March 3, 2,659 fewer.

The documents on Conte and Speranza sent to the Court of Ministers

It was noted that notifications began to be sent to the suspects named in the investigation, stating that charges could be brought, such as gross negligence in managing the epidemic, causing the death of many people and abuse of office.

It has been known that the notifications of Conte and Speranza, as prime ministers and ministers, have been sent to the Ministerial Court, which deals with the practices relating to those who have served in these offices.

The positions of the former premier Giuseppe Conte and the then Minister of Health Roberto Speranza will be transmitted to the Court of Ministers, which will have to evaluate the acts against them. If there is an investigation against a minister, the matter is governed directly by article 96 of the Constitution, and the Court of Ministers is competent to judge on the subject.

The reaction of Conte and Speranza

“I hear from the press agencies news regarding the Bergamo investigation. Naturally, I immediately anticipate my maximum availability and collaboration with the judiciary. However, I am calm in front of the country and the Italian citizens for having worked with the utmost commitment and with a complete sense of responsibility during one of the most challenging moments experienced by our Republic “, commented M5S president Giuseppe Conte in a note.

“I hear from the press agencies news regarding the Bergamo investigation. I’ve always thought anyone responsible for managing the pandemic should be ready to account for it. I am very serene and sure that I have always acted with discipline and honour in the exclusive interest of the country. As always, I have full faith in the judiciary,” said former health minister Roberto Speranza.