Awaiting Fakir's autopsy. Piantedosi: 'The videos show the correctness of the police officers. Five thousand body cameras on the way'

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

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

The investigation is proceeding under a file for manslaughter, which involves the two police officers and the four Red Cross operators who intervened — not as suspects, but as persons registered in the preliminary annotations register.

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 staff. The deadline set by the prosecutor's office for the autopsy is 90 days.

"The autopsy will have to clarify the causes of death," stressed lawyer Gabriele Bordoni, who represents the two police officers, "and everything surrounding it — the intervention of the police officers and the medical staff, and obviously also the condition of this man before all of this happened."

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

"This is yet another episode that testifies to the complexity of police work. The videos show that the officers approached the situation with the care required in such cases." 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 the space of a few seconds. I believe all the necessary attention and balance was exercised in this case. We await the judiciary's investigation, but I believe it is heading in the direction of recognising the correctness of the officers' conduct," 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 to all cases where it is deemed appropriate for police operations to be supported by the need to document them."

The officers' lawyer: 'Fakir had a CT scan 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 inform me, because among the various questions to be addressed will be the analysis of this scan, so we are waiting for qualified individuals to provide answers." This was stated by lawyer Bordoni, who represents the two police officers registered in the preliminary annotations register in connection with the death of Abderrahim Fakir, regarding the news reported in advance by Il Messaggero, according to which the CT scan carried out yesterday on the body of the 42-year-old revealed "a compromise of the respiratory tract."

"The asphyxiation," the newspaper writes, "was probably 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 the CT scan, Bordoni replied: "They have nothing to say. They have no comments to make. Whatever human and professional considerations they had to make, they have already made through me, and they have nothing further to add. They are waiting for those with medical expertise to provide the necessary 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 sooner on which the consultants can express themselves, we will know, and we will act accordingly," added Bordoni, who has chosen forensic pathologist Matteo Tudini as his technical consultant for the party.

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." These were the words of Fabio Anselmo, the attorney representing the family of Abderrahim Fakir, when questioned by journalists regarding the news broken 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. According to reports, the man died as a result of suffocation and there are no fractures on the body. "Regarding the leaks from the CT scan, have you received any information, have you already read something?" a journalist asked over the phone with the lawyer, outside the mortuary of the Policlinico Sant'Orsola in Bologna, where the autopsy on Fakir's body is being carried out 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 on this at the moment."

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

At the home where Abderrahim Fakir lived — the 42-year-old man who died on July 19 in Via Svevo in the Pilastro district — last Wednesday, during a search by the Mobile Squad acting on behalf of the Bologna Prosecutor's Office, several electronic devices were seized, namely computers and mobile phones. A cousin of Fakir, his flatmate, was in the house and is said to have been heard as a witness. No narcotic substances are reported to have been found in the home. The Prosecutor's Office is also, in the course of these days, acquiring dozens of videos recorded by Pilastro residents in order to reconstruct what happened on Sunday.

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

"They are two very young officers who are experiencing the death of a man as a trauma — 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 dispatch of a 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 ultimately shed light on reality," Bordoni said at the conclusion of the autopsy proceedings, commenting on the response issued yesterday by the Bologna Local Health Authority (AUSL) to the news of a request for a medical response unit with a paramedic on board made by the officers who intervened in the case of Abderrahim Fakir. "It has been reported by some media outlets," the AUSL had announced, "that law enforcement officers had requested the 118 Emergency Operations Centre to dispatch a medical response unit and that this request had gone unanswered due to unavailability of the vehicle. The documentary evidence currently in the possession of the organisation, including call recordings and documentation from the 118 Emergency Operations Centre, does not confirm this account."

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