Rabat – Italian prosecutors have ordered a forensic examination of a police officer’s body camera as part of the investigation into the killing of 43-year-old Moroccan national Abderrahim Fakir during a violent police intervention in Bologna last month.
The examination is scheduled for August 10 at a laboratory of Italy’s Carabinieri forensic unit (RIS) in Rome, Bologna Today reported. Investigators will create a forensic copy of the bodycam worn by the officer leading the patrol during the July 19 incident.
Prosecutors consider the procedure a key step in preserving and analyzing the footage recorded during the intervention, added the report.
The examination will be carried out as a non-repeatable technical assessment, allowing all parties in the case to appoint independent experts to observe the process.
According to Italian media, the lawyer representing the two police officers under investigation has appointed an IT expert to attend the examination. The defense had also requested that investigators examine other videos collected during the investigation, as well as Fakir’s mobile phone.
The investigation currently involves six people, including the two police officers who responded to the incident and four Italian Red Cross workers. Prosecutors are investigating the case on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.
A video of Abderrahim’s killing went viral on social media, showing the two policemen pinning him face down to the ground, with his hands tied behind his back. The victim was heard crying for help, apparently struggling to breathe, before he fell unconscious.
Fakir’s body underwent an autopsy, with initial findings revealing that his lungs were full of blood and showed signs of asphyxiation.
Preliminary reports said a resident alerted police after seeing a man behaving “erratically” near a parking lot. Police and medical personnel responded, and Fakir was reportedly struck by a police vehicle. Officers also allegedly used pepper spray before physically restraining him.
Authorities hope the bodycam footage will help clarify the sequence of events leading to Fakir’s killing.
