Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old Moroccan-born man who had lived in Italy since childhood, died on Sunday afternoon in the Pilastro district of Bologna after being restrained face-down by two police officers. A video recorded by a resident and widely circulated shows the man, handcuffed and held on the ground by the officers and a civilian, repeatedly calling out ‘Aiuto, basta’ (Help, enough) before becoming motionless. Medical personnel who had been called to the scene stood by during the restraint and only intervened after he stopped moving; an advanced medical team that arrived later confirmed his death.

The Bologna prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and, in a first application of a recently enacted security decree, entered the names of the two officers and four healthcare workers into a separate preliminary register rather than formally listing them as suspects. The decree allows such annotation when a possible justification—such as the fulfilment of duty or legitimate defence—appears evident. The prosecutor stated that the inquiry will examine the full sequence of events, including body-camera footage and all available videos, and that an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. Italian media reported that the man had a history of asthma and heart problems, and that police were called by neighbours who described him as agitated and possibly damaging vehicles.

The case has ignited sharp political divisions. Bologna’s centre-left mayor, Matteo Lepore, called a public gathering to demand ‘truth and justice’, while right-wing government figures and police unions defended the officers’ conduct, with one union citing the man’s prior criminal record—including arrests for drug offences and resisting a public official—as evidence of potential dangerousness. Opposition politicians and civil rights groups have drawn comparisons to past deaths in Italian custody, such as those of Federico Aldrovandi and Stefano Cucchi, and to the killing of George Floyd in the United States. Medical experts quoted in Italian press stressed that prone restraint can pose serious risks, particularly for individuals in a state of acute agitation, and called for revised protocols for joint police-medical interventions.

The investigation remains in its early stages. The prosecutor’s office has said it will conduct all necessary inquiries, including toxicological and medico-legal examinations, to reconstruct the full circumstances. Protests in Bologna on Monday evening saw some clashes between demonstrators and police, with reports of a paper bomb thrown and police responding with water cannon and tear gas. The autopsy findings are awaited as the central piece of evidence to clarify whether the restraint, pre-existing health conditions, or other factors caused the death.