The two police officers implicated in the death of Abderrahim Fakir are set to return to patrol duty on September 1. The information was disclosed by their lawyer, Gabriele Bordoni, in an interview with La Repubblica, while the Bologna police prefecture has remained silent on the matter.
Senator Ilaria Cucchi quickly reacted to the news in a Facebook post. She noted that the two officers had until recently been assigned to internal duties. That arrangement remained in place until Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini intervened to defend the officers after Abderrahim Fakir’s sister publicly questioned their return to active duty, she said.
For the senator, the way the announcement was made raises questions. “How can a lawyer know in advance about internal decisions within a police station and police headquarters?” she asked, before adding: “Who decides on personnel assignments in Bologna, the police chief or the lawyer representing the two officers?”
For Ilaria Cucchi, this is not merely a procedural matter. She believes such transparency is owed to the public, other officers at the Bologna police headquarters and Abderrahim Fakir’s family, who are still awaiting answers about his death.
“Is it normal for there to be such a close relationship between a lawyer and the police headquarters that he is able to announce internal personnel movements to the press weeks in advance?” she said.
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Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old Moroccan who arrived in Italy at the age of five, died on July 19 after being restrained on the ground by two police officers during his arrest in Bologna. Initial autopsy findings reported blood-filled lungs and extensive areas of hemorrhagic infiltration caused by compression to the back, which lawyer Fabio Anselmo described as “violent mechanical asphyxia caused by dorsal compression.”
An analysis of Fakir’s phone has since provided the Bologna criminal police with initial findings, while further autopsy examinations are scheduled to resume at the end of the month. Thirty-six days after his death, his body remains in Italy, while his family continues to call for its repatriation.
