A committee representing about 500 relatives of those who died of COVID-19 in Italy has initiated a legal claim against the regional and national authorities for an inadequate response to the pandemic, with hearing set to take place in April 2021, the committee's lawyer, Consuelo Locati. told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2020) A committee representing about 500 relatives of those who died of COVID-19 in Italy has initiated a legal claim against the regional and national authorities for an inadequate response to the pandemic, with hearing set to take place in April 2021, the committee's lawyer, Consuelo Locati. told Sputnik.
The committee "Noi Denunceremo" ("We will go to court") was formed in April in Bergamo (Lombardy), the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy during the first wave,. The relatives of the victims claim that both the central government and local authorities failed to take immediate action in response to the emergency, as well as to implement existing emergency response plan.
Locati told Sputnik that the committee mounted the legal action on Wednesday afternoon.
"The evidence that we have filed, the documents that we have in our support, are related to the responsibility of the government for the absence of an adequate pandemic plan, the responsibility of the Lombardy Region, and the failed, disregarded surveillance for the implementation of an adequate national pandemic plan, given that the regions must have an adequate implementation plan. It was also the responsibility of the region to verify that there was indeed an adequate national pandemic plan," Locati said.
She noted that the motion also has a part related to the fact that Lombardy had a 2014-2018 regional emergency prevention plan, which in any case was not implemented during the pandemic in the region. In addition, on the local level, the complainants accuse the authorities of the failure to close the Alzano hospital, the failure to sanitize the emergency room in Alzano and the failure to immediately and promptly establish a red zone in the municipalities of Nembro and Alzano Lombardo.
"It is clear that they [counterparty] must give an answer. Challenging what was said in this legal notification by the people who have suffered losses would be a further scandal and a further disrespect to the citizens," the lawyer said.
"We hope that a compensation law can be put in place for these people because the damage they have suffered is tragic, this must now be considered, and we await the position of the [government] institutions � Lombardy Region, government, Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Health � who will be able to file their documents up to 20 days before the hearing, which will be in April," Locati continued.
According to Locati, who could not share details about the legal action because of the protection of personal data of the complainants, the total amount of compensation asked for is around 100 million Euros ($121 million), which is composed of requests of all families.
