Fakir was being followed by a mental health center. Piantedosi: 'The videos show the police acted correctly'

The autopsy on the body of Abderrahim Fakir, the 42-year-old Moroccan man who died last Sunday in Bologna during a police intervention, has been underway since 11 a.m. in pavilion 18 of the Sant'Orsola hospital in Bologna. The post-mortem examination was ordered by the prosecutor's office this morning.

Yesterday, a bone CT scan was carried out as a preliminary step ahead of today's examination.

Proceedings are continuing within the framework of a manslaughter investigation, which involves — not as suspects but as persons entered in the register for preliminary annotations — the two police officers and four Red Cross operators who intervened. Prosecutors are asking the doctors to carry out histological and toxicological examinations and to verify the correctness of the resuscitation procedures performed by the medical personnel. The prosecutor's office has set a 90-day deadline for the autopsy. "The autopsy will have to clarify the cause of death," stressed lawyer Gabriele Bordoni, who represents the two police officers, "and everything surrounding it — the intervention of the officers and the medical staff, and obviously also the condition of this man before all of this happened."

Following his admission to the emergency room at Bologna's Maggiore hospital on 20 June for a psychiatric problem, Abderrahim Fakir was referred to the mental health centre (CSM), where he presented himself in the following days. According to information available to ANSA, Fakir — who died on 19 July in the Pilastro district — was examined at the CSM, where an initial diagnosis was made and a course of therapy confirmed. He was then given an appointment for a second visit in the first days of August, to continue treatment.

Piantedosi: 'Videos show officers acted correctly'. Five thousand bodycams on the way.

"This is yet another episode that demonstrates the complexity of police work. The videos show that the officers approached the situation with the sensitivity that such cases require." This was stated by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, appearing as a guest on L'Aria che Tira on La7. "Those who operate in such moments must make decisions in a matter of seconds. I believe there was every care and balance required in these situations. We await the judiciary's investigation, but I think it will move in the direction of recognising that the officers acted correctly," he added.

The minister also announced that "the procurement tender is about to be launched. In the coming months, five thousand cameras will arrive as an initial allocation. This will be a provision that will be progressively extended in all cases where it is deemed appropriate for police operations to be supported by the need to document events."

Officers' lawyer: 'The CT scan on Fakir was carried out, but I'm waiting for my consultants on the results'

"I know this CT scan was carried out yesterday, but I know nothing of the results. I'm waiting for my consultants to tell me, because among the various questions to be addressed there will also be an analysis of this scan, so we'll wait for qualified individuals to provide answers." This was stated by lawyer Bordoni, who represents the two police officers entered in the register for preliminary annotations in connection with the death of Abderrahim Fakir, regarding the report anticipated by Il Messaggero according to which the CT scan performed yesterday on the 42-year-old's body revealed "a compromise of the respiratory tract."

"The asphyxia - the newspaper writes - was most likely caused by the fact that for approximately 5 long minutes, the 42-year-old of Moroccan origin remained pinned with his chest to the ground." When asked what the police officers had said about the results of this CT scan, Bordoni replied: "They don't have to say anything, they have no comments to make. The human and professional considerations they needed to make, they have already made through me, and now they have nothing more to add. They are waiting for the people with medical expertise to provide the appropriate answers."

"It will take 90 days to complete all the examinations. At that point we should have, I think, some answers. If elements of interest emerge beforehand on which the consultants can comment, we will know about them and act accordingly," added Bordoni, who has chosen forensic pathologist Matteo Tudini as his technical consultant.

Attorney Anselmo: 'Fakir died of suffocation? I don't feel I can deny it'

"I don't feel I can deny it, but I won't comment." This is what attorney Fabio Anselmo, representing the family of Abderrahim Fakir, said when questioned by reporters regarding the news previewed by Il Messaggero about the CT scan performed on the body of the 42-year-old who died in the Pilastro district of Bologna last Sunday during a police intervention. The man, according to reports, died of suffocation and there are no fractures on the body. "Regarding the leaks about the CT scan, have you received any information, have you already read anything?" a reporter asked by phone to the attorney, outside the mortuary of the Policlinico Sant'Orsola in Bologna, where the autopsy on Fakir's body is to be performed today. "I have nothing to say about this," Anselmo replied. "No comment, I don't feel I can deny it, I don't feel I can engage with this at the moment."

Search of Fakir's home, computers and mobile phones seized

In the home where Abderrahim Fakir lived, the 42-year-old man who died on 19 July in Via Svevo in the Pilastro district, last Wednesday, during a search carried out by the Mobile Squad on behalf of the Bologna Prosecutor's Office, several electronic devices were seized, namely computers and mobile phones. In the home was a cousin of Fakir, his housemate, who is reported to have been questioned as a witness. No narcotic substances are said to have been found in the home. The Prosecutor's Office is also currently acquiring dozens of videos taken by Pilastro residents to reconstruct what happened on Sunday.

'The officers are experiencing the death of Fakir as a tragedy'

"They are two very young officers who are experiencing as a tragedy having been present at the death of a man they had tried in every way to protect from negative events." This was stated in an interview on the programme 'L'aria che tira' on La7 by attorney Bordoni. "The officers called the control centre twice and requested the intervention of the medical response unit," he assured. "The recordings will confirm that they requested the medical response unit on two occasions."

"I imagine there are recordings, which beyond everything that has been reported will then provide evidence of reality," Bordoni said at the end of the autopsy assignment, commenting on the response that the Bologna AUSL gave yesterday to the news of a request for a medical car with a 118 doctor on board made by the police officers who had intervened on Abderrahim Fakir. "It has been reported by some media outlets," the AUSL had announced, "that law enforcement would have requested the 118 Operations Centre to send a medical car and that such request would not have been fulfilled due to the vehicle's unavailability. The documentary elements currently in the Company's possession, including call recordings and documentation from the 118 Operations Centre, do not confirm this reconstruction."

All rights reserved © Copyright ANSA