arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

It emerged this week that senior police officers have been placed under investigation for allegedly making false statements as part of a cover-up.

At a press conference the day after the July 21 raid the police presented an array of weapons which they said were seized at the school and proved the occupants were part of the violent Black Bloc anarchists who rioted during the summit.

Two petrol bombs were displayed as the most damning evidence and prosecutors said all 93 occupants, including five Britons, could be charged with conspiracy to bomb and jailed for five years if found guilty.

Genoa magistrates investigating the raid now suspect the Molotov cocktails had in fact been found by police in the centre of the city, seven hours before the midnight raid.

Earlier this month Pasquale Guaglione, a deputy police chief, told investigators that his unit discovered two petrol bombs behind a bush on Via Corso Italia, the scene of fierce rioting, and passed them on to a mobile patrol to take back to the police station.