The complaint of the two passers-by, a boy and a girl, filed with the public prosecutor’s office in Florence, who filmed the arrest phases for the identification of a street vendor, immobilized on the ground on Lungarno Acciaiuoli, near Ponte Vecchio, by traffic police in civilian clothes engaged in anti-degradation control. “The complaint – the lawyer Cosimo Magazzini said yesterday – was presented this morning and was done so that the work of the police is evaluated“, in this case that of officers in civilian clothes of the municipal police of Florence.
In the document, the lawyer specifies, no specific crimes against the agents are hypothesized however “we have postponed the evaluation to the prosecutor – he continues – because we have seen the scene but we do not know the background. What we are asking is to clarify”.
The association ‘Mutuelle of the solidarity of the Senegalese in Italy’ has issued a statement in which it defines what happened as “the epilogue of a series of acts of discrimination”, and stresses “the racist, inhuman and degrading nature of the treatment”.
The episode dates back to April 5, then in the following days the footage was spread on the web.
“We have assured the Senegalese ambassador that we will initiate an internal audit with the municipal police so that all the details of the dynamics can be identified because if there are responsible persons, they will be appropriately disciplined. We strongly reject the accusation that the agents acted out of racism. “This is what he explained the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella in reference to the detention.
“In any case, we have confirmed that the municipal police officers have made a complaint to the prosecutor for resistance to public officials and injuries and we have learned that the Senegalese citizen will also file a complaint – he added -. We trust in the correctness of this whole affair. and above all we reaffirm the excellent relationship that exists with the Senegalese community, a relationship that has been going on for a long time, thanks to which we have also collaborated to tackle the difficult problem of illegal trade, which is often reported by our citizens, and for this reason the Senegalese community was of great help. We will do whatever is necessary so that we can get full clarity on everything that has happenedfrom start to finish “.
“The detention was initially made for identification purposes. Then the abusive street vendor was sued for resistance to public officials and personal injury in addition to the non-presentation of documents “, explained yesterday to the city council of Florence, the councilor for urban security, Benedetta Albanese. “The video that circulated on the net is partial, it takes up the final part of a more complex intervention. On the modalities we have activated for a verification of what are the procedures of immobilization of people for safety and without the use of violence” .
Albanese told that the intervening agents had “injuries, healed in three and five days respectively. The psycho-physical condition of the seller was good, he did not ask for treatment and we had no news that there was access to the emergency room. However, our intention is to shed light on the methods adopted, to proceed with internal checks that may be deemed appropriate and necessary. Illegal commercialism is a topic that is faced by the municipal police body: in 2019 102,000 pieces were seized, in this early 2022 we are already at 8,000 pieces “.
Source: Ansa
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