Death of Fakir in Bologna: Red Cross explains its intervention, family requests silence
The Italian Red Cross clarifies that it began resuscitation manoeuvres within a minute of the end of the restraint operation. The family wants to bring the body back to Casablanca.
Fakir dies in Bologna, Red Cross: "Resuscitation begun in less than a minute"
The volunteers of the Italian Red Cross who intervened on Sunday in Bologna to assist Abderrahim Fakir performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation manoeuvres and used a defibrillator "from the moment it was possible to intervene until the arrival of the emergency medical vehicle", the organisation itself clarifies. According to rainews.it, which reconstructs the final hours of the incident on the basis of official statements from the CRI and the man's family members.
According to sources close to the Red Cross, between the end of the police containment operations and the beginning of the rescuers' intervention, less than a minute elapsed. The volunteers, it is reported, found Fakir with "vital signs still detectable", but in conditions that appeared "immediately desperate": after only dozens of seconds, they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The CRI further clarifies that the defibrillator used was handed over to magistrates and that the phases of the intervention "are not visible in the video initially circulated, but can be seen from other videos shown subsequently by news organisations, for example the evening edition of TG5 on Monday 20 July". The organisation reaffirms its "complete willingness to cooperate with investigators and the Ausl to shed full light on the tragic incident".
Four Red Cross volunteers are under investigation together with police officers. The same CRI has communicated that the rescuers involved "are deeply disturbed and have decided to suspend ambulance service".
Family requests discretion and appeals for calm
"At this moment we do not want to speak to anyone. Let us process our grief in peace": thus Davide Di Leva, partner of Yossra Fakir, Abderrahim's niece, addressed the media. Di Leva thanked the press for the support expressed, but clarifying that the family prefers silence. "We do not need written statements, press or media. The paperwork and documentation must speak", he declared, also referring to the autopsy reports, expected very probably by the end of the weekend.
The body will be transported to Morocco for the funeral, as soon as the autopsy permits. The family intends to bury Fakir in Casablanca, his native city. "We are waiting for the autopsy timetable here in Bologna", explained Hamed Mimi, brother-in-law and husband of sister Nadia. "We hope it will be carried out this week, otherwise time moves on too much. Then we await the consulate preparing all the documents so we can bring the body back to our country."
Mimi recounted that much of the family has lived in Italy for many years, having arrived between 1993 and 1994, and that Abderrahim had grown up in Bologna. He described him as "a quiet person" who "suffered from asthma, had heart problems and had recently discovered a very serious illness". According to the family member, once Fakir was immobilised he should have been placed in a different position. "Once a person is handcuffed and on the ground, they could at least have lifted him or sat him up. He could not stay in that position for several minutes, because he could no longer breathe", Mimi stated.
The brother-in-law then launched an appeal for calm following the clashes that occurred in the night of Monday. "We do not want disorder to happen in the city, it serves no purpose. Abderrahim is now dead and life does not go backwards." Mimi added: "We have demonstrated to seek justice, not to cause chaos. If someone infiltrated taking advantage of the situation, they do not represent our family."
Piantedosi: "Law enforcement has nothing to fear"
On the sidelines of the presentation of new bodycams for FS Security staff, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi intervened on the Bologna incidents. "There exists a prejudice whereby the burden of proof is overturned and inverted when there is something concerning law enforcement action: the legitimacy is presumed to be lacking, by some. But we have nothing to fear", Piantedosi declared, responding to those asking him about the "preventive hatred" evoked by Prime Minister Meloni and Minister Salvini.
"Law enforcement are the institutions rated highest by the majority of Italians", the Interior Minister asserted. "All the episodes that have occurred are extensively documented. We live in an era in which video and photographic documentation is very widespread, and we are pleased about this."
On the specific issue of bodycams, Piantedosi emphasised that the device "represents a fundamental tool not only for creating deterrence, but also for guaranteeing transparency and certification of law enforcement operations". "There is much being said about bodycams also in these days for things that have happened elsewhere", the minister added, indirectly referring to the Fakir case.
Source: la Repubblica