An Italian court jailed 15 members of the security forces and acquitted 30 others over the riots that erupted on the sidelines of the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, ANSA news agency reported.

The Genoa court on Monday sentenced 15 people to prison terms ranging from five months to five years. The heaviest penalty, five years, was handed to Biagio Gugliotta, the inspector of the prison police.

The 45 members of the security services, including military police, members of the prison system and doctors, were accused of physical and verbal abuse of protestors demonstrating against the meeting of the Group of Eight countries.

The alleged crimes took place in a barracks in Bolzaneto, just outside Genoa, where 250 arrested protesters were taken.

In the barracks' medical center, several women were forced to strip naked in the presence of male officers.

"The court recognised that something serious happened in the barracks of Bolzaneto," prosecutor Vittorio Ranieri Miniati said, according to ANSA. "At the same time, the court acquitted some of the suspects. We will read the verdict and decide if we will appeal."

One person died in the clashes between protestors and security forces at Genoa, and the violence has led to three trials, two of them against the security forces.

In the second trial, which is ongoing, 29 police and members of the prison medical service are accused of beating protesters and conducting arbitrary searches at the Diaz school where detainees were held.