Death of Abderrahim Fakir in Bologna: investigation into involuntary manslaughter against police officers and healthcare workers
A 42-year-old Moroccan man died on 19 July in Bologna during a police arrest. Two police officers and four healthcare workers are under preliminary investigation.
Death of Abderrahim Fakir during arrest in Bologna: Italy confronts its police methods
According to Google News MA, Abderrahim Fakir, a Moroccan national aged 42 who had been legally residing in Italy for more than thirty years, lost his life on 19 July 2026 in Bologna during a police operation. The tragedy, filmed by a neighbour from his window, triggered a shock wave across the Italian peninsula.
It began around midday in the Pilastro district. Concerned neighbours, alerted by Fakir's state of extreme agitation — possibly linked to psychological distress — contacted the police. Upon the officers' arrival, the situation escalated rapidly: Fakir was accused of striking a patrol vehicle. The police used pepper spray, handcuffed him and forced him to the ground, face down. A third responder held his legs down.
Video footage taken from a neighbouring building captured his final moments. He can be heard crying out repeatedly: "Aiuto! Basta! Basta!" — "Help! Enough! Enough!" His voice ceased after a few minutes of immobilisation. His death was pronounced at 12:53, despite the presence of emergency services on scene, whose response time is today the subject of serious questioning.
A business owner settled since childhood
Arriving in Italy at the age of five, Fakir ran a small cleaning, removal and handling company. His solicitor, Ms Barbara Spinelli, who had assisted him the previous year with the renewal of his residence permit, described him to Médias24 as a person who was well-regarded by those around him. "He was a good person, very kind, very respectful. He was very concerned about the economic situation of his business and showed extremely responsible behaviour towards his employees."
Ms Spinelli also revealed a deep anxiety that weighed on the entrepreneur: fear of expulsion, fuelled by the political climate surrounding the new European immigration reform. "This very strong, very threatening political debate struck fear into the hearts of many foreign nationals legally residing in Italy, who feared being sent back to their countries," she explains. The solicitor suggests that this permanent psychological pressure may have contributed to Fakir's state of crisis.
Preliminary investigation: six individuals targeted
The prosecutor of Bologna has opened a preliminary investigation. Two police officers and four healthcare personnel are involved, under the legal hypothesis of involuntary manslaughter. Under the "penal shield" introduced by a recent security decree, these six individuals were registered under the "modello 45-bis" regime rather than on the standard register of suspects.
Investigators are currently examining the body-camera recordings of the officers as well as the witness's video. An autopsy must determine whether death resulted from asphyxiation linked to immobilisation, cardiac arrest provoked by stress and pepper spray, or a pre-existing medical condition.
The prone restraint technique in question
Beyond individual responsibilities, it is the prone restraint technique itself that comes directly under scrutiny. Ms Spinelli recalls that Italy has already been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for the use of this method, "for failing to adequately train police officers on its lethal character and for failing to establish an independent investigative body."
A circular from the Interior Ministry stipulated, however, that this manoeuvre could only be carried out as a last resort, temporarily and proportionately, after rigorous assessment of the context. The solicitor considers it urgent to review the training of law enforcement but also that of medical personnel, who should monitor vital functions during such operations.
The Interior Ministry, for its part, has promised complete transparency in the handling of the matter.
Anger in the streets, political fractures
Fakir's death provoked a wave of protests in Bologna and Turin, where hundreds of people gathered. At a peaceful rally supported by Bologna's centre-left mayor, Matteo Lepore, protesters carried banners bearing the inscriptions: "Justice and truth for Fakir!" or "State assassins."
Some gatherings descended into confrontations, with shop windows smashed and the use of tear gas and water cannons. The family's solicitor firmly condemned these acts of violence, viewing them as "a blow to" Fakir's dignity, and called for the tragedy not to be instrumentalised.
On the political front, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi defended the police institution on public broadcaster Rai Uno, stating that any harmful criticism directed at the police testified to a lack of trust in the forces of order.
The victim's sister, Khadija Fakir, expressed her pain to newspaper Corriere della Sera. "You can't die like this! The police are supposed to protect us... If someone is agitated, they should calm them down, not kill them like a dog."
The Moroccan Embassy in Italy indicated that it was following the matter closely.
Source: Google News MA