Rome, 20 July (LaPresse) – “Fakir wasn’t a violent person; he was a very calm young man. Perhaps he was agitated; he was shouting and they called the police. Go and watch the video: a police officer punches him and presses down on his head with his hands. That video is shocking.” “They killed him.” So said Antonietta and Mohamed, two friends of Abderrahim Fakir, a citizen of Moroccan origin who died during a police operation in the Pilastro neighbourhood of Bologna, speaking to journalists. “We want justice; it’s only right that it’s done. It wasn’t right to treat him like that. He was killed; if he hadn’t been treated that way, he’d be here today,” they added, emphasising that Fakir was treated “like a worm”. Regarding the behaviour of the paramedics, his friends say it amounted to “failure to provide assistance”. They also commented on the person who was holding Fakir’s ankles: “We know him; he’s one of us. He shouldn’t have done that. He should have helped the emergency services.”
Bologna, Fakir’s friends: “He was killed and treated like a worm”
Rome, 20 July (LaPresse) – “Fakir wasn’t a violent person; he was a very calm young man. Perhaps he was agitated; he was shouting and they called the police. Go and watch the video: a police officer punches him and presses down on his head with his hands. That video is shocking.” “They killed him.” So said Antonietta and Mohamed, two friends of Abderrahim Fakir, a citizen of Moroccan origin who died during a police operation in the Pilastro neighbourhood of Bologna, speaking to journalists. “We want justice; it’s only right that it’s done. It wasn’t right to treat him like that. He was killed; if he hadn’t been treated that way, he’d be here today,” they added, emphasising that Fakir was treated “like a worm”. Regarding the behaviour of the paramedics, his friends say it amounted to “failure to provide assistance”. They also commented on the person who was holding Fakir’s ankles: “We know him; he’s one of us. He shouldn’t have done that. He should have helped the emergency services.”
