The Prosecutor's Office in Ravenna examines suspicions of issuing false certificates to block the targeting of illegal migrants to Italian return centres. On September 16, 23 doctors were searched, and infectologist Nicola Cocco heard a charge of engagement in a criminal union. The case will show whether medical evaluation has not become a tool for political sabotage of migration law.
The investigation went beyond Ravenna.
Italian police, acting on orders from the prosecutor's office in Ravenna, conducted on September 16 searches for 23 doctors in respective cities. Documents, phones and computers were secured. Investigators shall verify that certificates of inability to reside in the centres of permanent residence for repatriation, known as CPR, have been drawn up in accordance with the wellness position of the persons concerned, or have been utilized to block the legal return procedure.
By information from the Italian agency ANSA Nicola Cocco, an infectologist associated with the Italian Society of Migration Medicine, was accused of participating in a criminal union designed to make false certificates and impede the return of foreigners. The doctor rejects the charges. He argues that he campaigned openly on the harmful effects of CPR on wellness and did not encourage anyone to falsify documentation. He's bound by the presumption of innocence.
Medical certificate is not a manifesto
The right to wellness protection is granted to anyone, including the individual residing illegally. If the patient’s condition effectively excludes him from being placed in the facility, the doctor has a work to make it clear. However, a medical paper cannot be a pass to circumvent a law simply due to the fact that its author opposes state migration policy.
The case file included a call from June 2024, in which Coco asked 1 of the doctors to send copies of the certificates to his compilation. ANSA besides gavethat the justice in Ravenna described the contested papers as being drawn up under open opposition to the illegal migration management system. This does not prejudge guilt, but gives the prosecution a basis to check whether the clinical evaluation has maintained independency from activism.
The earlier phase of the investigation afraid 34 suspicious certificates issued at the infirmary in Ravenna by 8 doctors. 3 were temporarily removed from the profession, the others were restricted from issuing specified certificates. The proceedings have not ended and the work of individual persons must be determined individually.
Left moves the dispute from the file to the street
The Democratic organization in Bologna joined the demonstration of solidarity with doctors on 19 September. More than 300 attended the convention. Politicians and activists argued that assessment of patients' ability to stay in CPR could not be considered a crime and the medical community should hold autonomy. Laura Boldrini presented the case as a political attack by the right on doctors.
This argument skips the point. The prosecution does not examine views on the CPR or the doctor’s right to issue a negative opinion. It examines the veracity of concrete papers and possible coordination of actions. Anyone who wants to liquidate the centres can campaign, vote in favour of amending the bill and convince citizens. However, it cannot replace your decision with a diagnosis written under the pre-adopted objective.
The dispute forms part of a wider fight between the Italian left and migration control tools. We've described it before. political manoeuvres around repatriation centres and dispute over the Italian position towards Dublin rules. In both cases, the ability of a democratic state to exercise its own law remains at stake.
Italian lesson for Poland
For Poland, the Ravenna case is simply a warning. A country which cannot execute a final return decision loses control of migration policy. At the same time, the procedure must defend the life and wellness of the foreigner. These duties can be reconciled on 1 condition: the doctor evaluates the patient's condition, the court controls legality, and politicians are accountable to voters for the regulations.
Left-wing activism cannot be privileged to stand above the law under the protection of professional authority. If the certificates were reliable, the investigation should prove it and clear the doctors of suspicion. If the papers were falsified for ideological reasons, the consequences must be firm. Without this border, state migration policy becomes a fiction, and the costs of chaos are borne by average citizens.
Source: Libero Quotidiano, ANSA, Rai News
Source: liberoquotidiano
