GREAT ITALIAN TRIAL

Southland Times, Issue 19389, 1 November 1924, Page 5

GREAT ITALIAN TRIAL

SEQUEL TO A MASSACRE WILD SCENES IN COURT LONG TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT IMPOSED (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright). (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association). ROME, October 30. (Received October 31, 5.5 pm.) The famous trial of Communists ended at Florence to-day. In all 40 men were acquitted while 21 were sentenced to hard labour for from 20 to 25 years. Some 24 others got from three to 12 years’ imprisonment. The announcement of the verdict created wild scenes in the prisoners’ cage where Lupo, chief of the gang, declared he would kill his fellow prisoner, Caponi, as soon as he regained liberty 25 years hence. The prisoners howled epithets at the Judge till the carabinieri forcibly removed them from the cage. These arrests marked the end of the Communists reign of excesses three years ago. This was one of the biggest trials ever held in Italy, 138 anarchists and Communists being charged with responsibility for the massacre at Empoli on February 28, 1921. As is the custom in Italy, all the accused appeared in the Court shut up in an iron cage. A special cage had to be constructed to accommodate the accused. The prisoners were all numbered. They occupied five tiers of seats and the Jury had to be supplied with a plan of the cage like a theaire plan. Each juror was supplied with a volume of 276 pages containing photographs of the accused and details of ths charges. Special dormitories were built, where the prisoners slept under strong military guard throughout the trial which started on May 8; since which date no less than 600 witnesses have been examined. There were 50 defending counsel. The Jury at the end of the trial had to answer 3000 questions. Empoli is a small town not many miles from Florence. The alleged massacre took place when conflicts between the Fascist! and their opponents were daily occurrences. The day before the trouble at Empoli the Fascist! had stormed and burned the Communist headquarters at* Trieste and the Communists had retaliated by burning the docks.