In a statement, Morocco’s ambassador to Italy said he had immediately instructed the Moroccan Consulate General with territorial jurisdiction to provide Fakir’s family with all necessary moral support and the consular assistance required under such circumstances.
The consulate was also instructed to maintain ongoing contact with the Italian judicial authorities leading the investigation, in full compliance with applicable international conventions and the procedures established under the Italian legal system.
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“It is in everyone’s interest that the full truth about this tragedy be established by determining, with rigor, impartiality, and transparency, all the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the ambassador said, while reiterating the embassy’s “full confidence” in the Italian judicial system.
“We are confident that the ongoing investigation will establish the full truth about the circumstances of this tragedy,” he added.
The ambassador also expressed, on behalf of the Moroccan Embassy, his sincere condolences, deep sympathy and full solidarity with Fakir’s family.
Relatives denounce a “disproportionate intervention."
Italian prosecutors opened an investigation Monday following the death of Abderrahim Fakir, 42, who died after being restrained by police during his arrest on Sunday in Bologna.
Footage recorded by a bystander and widely shared by Italian media shows Fakir, who arrived in Italy at the age of five, being held face down on the ground for several minutes. “Help, help!” he can be heard shouting repeatedly while the two officers restrained him, as two ambulance workers stood nearby.
The victim, visibly in distress, is then seen lying motionless, face down on the asphalt, while the officers tied his hands and feet. One of the officers eventually tapped him on the shoulder to check whether he was still conscious.
Body camera footage from the two officers has been made available to judicial authorities, the Bologna police prefecture said in a statement. It added that officers had responded after residents reported a man experiencing what was described as a violent outburst.
“We cannot die like this,” the victim’s sister, Khadija Fakir, said in a video. “The police are supposed to protect us. If someone is agitated, they should calm them down, not kill them like a dog,” she said.
Bologna’s center-left mayor, Matteo Lepore, called for “the full truth” to be established about the incident and urged people to join a gathering held Monday in the city center, which, according to media reports, drew several hundred participants.
Barbara Spinelli, a lawyer who assisted Abderrahim Fakir last year with a residence permit renewal application, told the ANSA news agency that he was “a very kind, educated and respectful person.” Although he lived and worked legally in Italy, she said he had feared being deported.
