‘Migration has been weaponised’: Italy’s security law criticised after death of Moroccan man in police restraint

Case of Abderrahim Fakir is first in which legal shield giving police greater protection from prosecution has been invoked If, before 19 July, few people in Italy beyond his family and friends knew who Abderrahim Fakir was, by the late afternoon of that day the final moments of his life were being watched across the country. Video footage widely shared online showed him being handcuffed and forcibly restrained by police on a street in Pilastro, a neighbourhood in the north-east of Bologna. Fakir, a 42-year-old small business owner born in Morocco but who had lived in Italy since he was a child, was pinned to the ground by two police officers as emergency health workers looked on. He repeatedly begged for help before his body stopped moving. Fakir was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Scoop News DeskItaly · Published Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 10:55 AM UTCUpdated Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 8:28 AM UTC

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Police said they responded to concerns from residents about a man behaving erratically and aggressively. El Canas said Fakir was with a group of friends, who described him as being in good spirits, on the night before his death and stayed in Pilastro overnight. “He was a good person, so kind and full of life,” said El Canas. “He had plenty of friends among the Moroccan community, but also Italians.” It is unclear what happened in the hours before he died.

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