Italy: Police and racism
01 January 1991
Italy: Police and racism
artdoc April=1995
Moroccan immigrant dies following questioning in police station
According to the police, Hachem Er Recragui, a 21-year-old
Moroccan immigrant, committed suicide by throwing himself from
the sixth floor window of the customs and excise police
headquarters in Palermo. Hachem had been stopped and questioned
by the police on the sea-front with a Moroccan friend, Karim
Asan. Although Hachem's papers were in order (his friend's were
not) he was taken to the police station where Karim Asan was
found to be in possession of 100 grammes of hash. After further
questioning, police say Hachem suddenly had a fit and threw
himself out of the sixth-floor window. He was certified dead on
arrival at hospital. The public prosecutor has ruled that no
post-mortem is necessary and a doctor who examined the corpse
found no signs of a beating but only bruising, internal injuries
and scratches consistent with a fall. Karim Asan is to be
repatriated. His version of events at the Palermo police station
that day has not been recorded (il manifesto 11.11.94).
Moroccan operated on following police assault
A young Moroccan, Kaled Kablouti, is to press charges against the
carabiniere after he alleges that a carabiniere accompanied by
a plain-clothes policeman beat him up near the main station in
Milan. Kablouti was so badly assaulted that he had to undergo an
operation for the removal of a damaged spleen (il manifesto
12.8.94).
Milan police chief boasts police inaction
A journalist for `Radiopopolaire' says that Milan police chief,
Achille Serra boasted that no action would be taken against a
group of 20 or so police officers who beat up two North Africans
caught stealing a car in front of several eyewitnesses. The
incident happened a year ago and at that time the police promised
a thorough investigation (il manifesto 12.8.94).
African women harassed by border police
Two black women who live in Turin claim they were assaulted by
members of the frontier police when returning from a conference
in Paris. Lugana from Zaire and Suad from Somalia are both
members of a multiethnic centre in Turin and have made a formal
complaint to the public prosecutor's office about their treatment
(il manifesto 5.10.94).
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 12, March 1995. Contact: Liz
Fekete, Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London
WC1X 9HS. Tel: 0171 837 0041