Ticino prosecutor's office criticizes RSI after "Africans" report
In a rare statement, the Ticino Public Prosecutor’s Office has denied a report by the Ticino television station RSI. RSI had reported that «four Africans» allegedly attempted to rape a woman on a train over the weekend. RSI stands by its account.
According to an RSI report on Sunday, the incident is said to have occurred on Saturday in a regional train in the direction of Lugano. Four "African citizens" have consequently been provisionally arrested as alleged perpetrators, according to RSI. They are accused of having tried to approach a female passenger in a train toilet in order to commit a crime against her.
The events as described by RSI do not correspond to reality, the Ticino public prosecutor's office wrote in a statement on Monday. At the same time, it called on the RSI management to urge its employees to better comply with journalistic due diligence - corresponding reports should be checked more closely for their truthfulness. Only in this way, according to the prosecutor's office, it can be prevented that an "unjustified panic mood" is created in the population.
All facts had been examined in the message of Sunday before appearance, communicated however the RSI news direction on Monday on inquiry. It maintains that the Ticino cantonal police was alerted on Saturday because of an attempted abuse of a rail passenger. The alleged perpetrators were "persons of African origin". The prosecutor's office had failed to provide further details on the ongoing investigation to justify the denial to RSI. (SDA)
