(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Tuesday slammed protesters who clashed with police in the leftwing stronghold of Bologna following the death of a Moroccan-born entrepreneur as police restrained him at the weekend for allegedly damaging a vehicle and behaving aggressively.
“It is up to the judiciary to shed light on the circumstances that led to the death of Abderrahim Fakir,”” Tajani stated.
Tajani deplored “the prejudice of a certain segment of the left, which never misses an opportunity to fuel hatred toward the state and law enforcement”.
Fakir, 42, who owned a small removals and cleaning business, died on Sunday after police were called to deal with man who was reported to be threatening another man trying to park in his garage and kicking the car during a “psychiatric crisis”.
Police used pepper spray on Fakir and pinned him down while trying to restrain him. A video of the incident filmed by a resident and widely shared online showed Fakir lying face down on the ground. He could be heared repeatedly calling for help, saying “stop, stop, enough!” and struggling to breathe in midday temperatures of over 35C before his movements stopped. The video shows police then binding Fakir’s ankles and only afterwards checking his vital signs. Four paramedics were at the scene.
Members of Italy’s rightwing government have praised the policemen’s conduct and condemned the protests in which hundreds rallied in Bologna on Monday and some threw firecrackers at officers amid a fierce political row over Fakir’s death. The protests won the support of the city’s mayor and major trade unions, and centre-left opposition politicians have criticised the rightwing government’s handing of the incident and demanded accountability.
Prosecutors have opened a probe into the incident and interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had “full confidence” the inquiry would establish the facts and clarify what happened.
Fakir’s relatives claimed police killed him in cold blood in the incident, which has drawn comparisions with the United States police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and the US ‘ICE’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s model of policing which has been involved in the killing of several protesters.
