![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lorenzo-Pasini-5-1784749110.jpg\")
Police clash with protesters in Bologna after a rally over the death of Abderrahim Fakir turned violent [Dea Sibilla\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\nBologna, Italy \u2013 Six minutes and 56 seconds. That is the length of the video capturing the final moments of Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old Moroccan-born man who had lived in Bologna, northern Italy, for more than three decades.<\/p>\n
Filmed shortly after 12:30pm local time (10:30 GMT) on Sunday from the balcony of a nearby apartment block, the footage shows two Italian police officers and a civilian restraining Fakir on the ground. He repeatedly screams for help. Four Italian Red Cross volunteers, who arrived with an ambulance, stand nearby.<\/p>\n
For more than four minutes, Fakir cries out. Then he falls silent. His ankles are secured with a black plastic zip tie. Only after the restraint ends do paramedics realise Fakir has lost consciousness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ask you to listen very carefully to that video,\u201d says Fabio Anselmo, the lawyer representing Fakir\u2019s family, during a July 21 news conference in the Italian Senate hosted by Senator Ilaria Cucchi.<\/p>\n
Cucchi\u2019s brother, Stefano, died in police custody in 2009. Anselmo represented the family during the legal battle that led to the conviction of several officers, making the case a symbol of Italy\u2019s wider struggle over police accountability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the officers stand up, Fakir may still be alive,\u201d Anselmo says. \u201cYet no one attempts to help him. No one removes the restraints.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spent almost 30 years dealing with cases like this,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe European Court of Human Rights has already condemned Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anselmo was referring to a January 2026 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Riccardo Magherini, who died in Florence in 2014 after police restrained him face down.<\/p>\n
The court found that Italy had violated Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights because the authorities had failed to show that maintaining him in that position was \u201cabsolutely necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hours after Fakir\u2019s death, Bologna police said officers had responded to reports of \u201ca person behaving violently\u201d. They said emergency services had been called immediately and that Fakir died after \u201crestraint procedures\u201d were carried out in the presence of medical personnel.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors ordered a post-mortem examination, while Bologna\u2019s local health authority opened an internal investigation.<\/p>\n
The footage spread rapidly across social media. Within hours, dozens gathered at the site where Fakir died. Later that afternoon, during a spontaneous vigil, his sister held up a photograph of her brother as she spoke to reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother wasn\u2019t an animal. He was a father, a worker, a good man. Why did they do this to him?\u201d she said through tears. \u201cI want everyone to see his face. I want people to know who he was. We don\u2019t want revenge. We want justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friends and lawyers who knew Fakir said his final months were marked by fear and financial pressure.<\/p>\n
Fear and fallout<\/p>\n
Barbara Spinelli, who had represented Fakir on immigration matters for years, told Al Jazeera that he had struggled with severe financial difficulties.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started a small removals and logistics business, but after several clients failed to pay for completed work, he was forced to lay off employees and fell into debt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Police clash with protesters in Bologna after a rally over the death of Abderrahim Fakir turned violent [Dea Sibilla\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n
According to Spinelli, Fakir had grown increasingly anxious about Italy\u2019s tougher migration debate, including discussions around deportations and the implementation of the European Union\u2019s Pact on Migration and Asylum.<\/p>\n
The pact, adopted in 2024 and due to be fully implemented from 2026, introduced new rules on migration management, asylum procedures and returns of people without legal status.<\/p>\n
She said Fakir feared he could be expelled from Italy, although there were no legal grounds at the time for such action against him. It remains unclear whether those fears had any connection to the events that led to his encounter with police on July 19.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept reassuring him there were no legal grounds for that to happen,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut that fear never left him.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the evening of July 20, Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore called for a solidarity rally in Piazza Maggiore in support of Fakir\u2019s family. Thousands gathered, including trade unionists, students and civil rights organisations.<\/p>\n
What began as a peaceful demonstration descended into confrontation when part of the crowd marched towards the nearby Prefecture, the local office representing Italy\u2019s central government, and the city\u2019s police headquarters.<\/p>\n
Protests turn violent<\/p>\n
Clashes broke out after protesters reached a line of riot police.<\/p>\n
Demonstrators threw bottles and fireworks, smashed shop windows and cash machines, and set two cars alight. Police used baton charges, water cannon and tear gas.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lorenzo-Pasini-6-1784749101.jpg\")
A protester moves through smoke as police stand nearby during clashes in Bologna following demonstrations over Fakir\u2019s death [Dea Sibilla\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n
Several demonstrators later accused the police of using excessive force.<\/p>\n
Jacopo, who asked to be identified only by his first name, told Al Jazeera that officers tackled him from behind and threw him to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI covered my face with my hands, and they started hitting me with batons and punching me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With his hands raised, he said he told officers: \u201cI\u2019m doing what you\u2019re telling me. You\u2019re hurting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care. Shut up,\u201d one officer allegedly replied, as the beating continued.<\/p>\n
Jacopo was later taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed multiple bruises and an eye injury.<\/p>\n
A freelance journalist working for L\u2019Espresso, an Italian weekly news magazine, told Al Jazeera that officers beat him while he retreated from the clashes.<\/p>\n
Video published by the magazine shows him shouting, \u201cI\u2019m a journalist! I\u2019m a journalist!\u201d as an officer repeatedly struck him with a baton. He said the assault ended only after he managed to escape.<\/p>\n
Police said 64 officers were injured during the unrest and that Bologna\u2019s historic centre suffered extensive damage.<\/p>\n
Political reckoning<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence, calling the clashes \u201cunacceptable\u201d. She said Fakir\u2019s death \u201cmust be fully established, without prejudice and without discounts for anyone\u201d, while adding that \u201cnothing can justify violence against law enforcement officers\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lorenzo-Pasini-7-1784749083.jpg\")
A protester gestures with a raised hand as police officers stand nearby during a demonstration in Bologna following Fakir\u2019s death [Dea Sibilla\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n
Opposition parties called on Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi to report to parliament on the circumstances surrounding Fakir\u2019s death and release any body-camera footage recorded by the officers involved.<\/p>\n
A test of accountability<\/p>\n
The investigation will be the first conducted under Italy\u2019s new Article 45-bis procedure, introduced by the Meloni government\u2019s Security Decree, which came into force in February 2026.<\/p>\n
Under the procedure, police officers are not immediately entered into the register of criminal suspects when alleged offences are committed in the course of their duties. Opposition parties, legal scholars and human rights organisations say the change could make it harder to hold officers to account.<\/p>\n
![\"People,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dea-Sibilla-2-1784749117.jpeg\")
People, including family members, hold pictures of Abderrahim Fakir during a vigil in Bologna after his death during a police restraint [Dea Sibilla\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n
Anselmo called the reform \u201ca legal monstrosity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t designed to strengthen the rule of law,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was designed to satisfy part of public opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bologna, Italy \u2013 Six minutes and 56 seconds. That is the length of the video capturing the final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[646,241,5,956,1864,36],"class_list":["post-34584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-africa","tag-europe","tag-italy","tag-middle-east","tag-morocco","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}