Tensions have flared in the Italian city of Bologna, where police utilized teargas and water cannons to disperse crowds following the death of 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, has sparked significant outcry from human rights campaigners and opposition political parties, who are calling for an immediate investigation into the circumstances of his death while under police restraint.
Fakir, a Moroccan-born resident who had lived in Italy since age five and operated a small cleaning and removals business, was the subject of a widely circulated video. In the footage, he can be heard repeatedly calling out in Italian, “aiuto, aiuto, basta” (Help, help, that’s enough), while two officers are seen pinning him to the ground. Ambulance workers were present at the scene during the interaction. The video further shows that after Fakir stopped moving, officers proceeded to bind his ankles before checking his vital signs in coordination with medical personnel.
The events leading up to the death began shortly after noon on Sunday in the Pilastro neighborhood, where residents called authorities to report Fakir’s allegedly erratic and aggressive behavior. According to reports, officers attempted to calm him and requested emergency services, later informing medics that the individual was experiencing a “psychiatric episode.” Before he was restrained, police deployed pepper spray in an effort to handcuff him. Prosecutors have since launched an investigation and requested access to the officers' body camera footage.
Khadija Fakir, the victim's sister, expressed her grief to the newspaper Corriere della Sera: “You can’t die like this. The police have to protect us. If someone is agitated, you have to calm them down … not kill them like a dog.”
The death has drawn comparisons to the 2020 murder of George Floyd in the United States, with some critics drawing parallels to tactics associated with US immigration enforcement. However, Italian officials have largely defended the police response. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated that those criticizing the police lack trust in the law enforcement and justice systems. Similarly, European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti described protest chants against the police as “disgraceful,” while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Brothers of Italy politician Galeazzo Bignami defended the officers' professional conduct.
Opposition figures have sharply criticized the government's stance. Senator Ilaria Cucchi, who lost her own brother in custody in 2009, called the police actions “inhumane.” Francesco Boccia of the Democratic Party warned against the importation of foreign policing models, asserting that Italy possesses “democratic antibodies.” Barbara Spinelli, a lawyer who had assisted Fakir with his residency permit, described him as a respectful and kind individual who had lived in fear of deportation. “I don’t know how I will ever again manage to tell someone they don’t need to be afraid,” she said.
During the protests late on Monday, firecrackers were thrown near police buildings and police reacted using teargas and water cannon. A group of demonstrators also sat down in a square holding a photograph of Fakir, the Ansa news agency reported.
Cucchi, a member of the opposition Greens and Left alliance (AVS) party, criticised Meloni and her coalition government, saying their “policies seeped in hatred and racism” had fostered a climate of violence.
