Young man punched by a policeman: "Beaten for no reason, I'm reporting"
The episode was filmed by a passerby and posted on social media. Here is the reconstruction of the force and the reply of the 23 year old and his employerA young foreigner checked in a public garden and found without documents in Modena was punched several times by a carabiniere .
The video, shot by a passer-by and dating back to yesterday morning, has gone viral. According to what was reconstructed by the police, the boy rebelled and was forcibly loaded into a car .
THE ARMA STATEMENT
"Pending further investigation into the entire affair, the two soldiers were temporarily re-employed in other roles", reports the provincial command of the Modena Army, which reconstructs the affair in this way.
«A man of unspecified nationality was standing near the entrance to the Storchi theater with caution. On this occasion, the man refused to provide his personal details and show any documents, forcing the operators to accompany him to the barracks for photo-signalling operations and the consequent arrest for resisting a public official and causing damage. During the intervention, he repeatedly hit the company car ."
«Some phases of the control – we read further in the note – were partially video-recorded by a citizen and posted on social networks. The multimedia material was acquired by the Modena Carabinieri and sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office for the relevant assessments."
THE 23-YEAR-OLD'S VERSION
But the 23-year-old Guinean denied it: « I didn't damage the company car, I was beaten in the face and leg . I was at the bus stop going to work, I didn't have my documents and I said I could call a friend who would bring them to me. But at that point they invited me to get into the car, I didn't want to . I want to report it, they beat me for no reason, I didn't do anything."
His lawyer, the lawyer Barbara Bettelli : «In Modena, something like this has never been seen, I had only seen things like this in American films . They have resorted to unnecessary violence, if a person resists legitimate control they should be contained, not beaten. The hearing was told he was checked because he looked suspicious. But in my opinion there was no indication that he was committing a crime."
THE EMPLOYER
The 23-year-old arrived in Italy on a boat, has no criminal record and works as an assistant chef in a restaurant. Its owner also speaks and clearly says that the police "made a mistake".
These are the words of Mario Campo, the owner of the "Cirisiamo" pastry restaurant where the young man works: « They got the wrong person , he has been working here for six years and has made no mistakes. He calls me 'dad Mario', I raised him professionally. He has been working here for six years . He arrived on the boat, took international protection and through the social worker came to work here, first as a dishwasher, then he made a career and is a cook for the second courses ", he says.
Yesterday morning, he continues, «it happened that he didn't have the documents in his pocket, but at home and they told him that they had to arrest him. They didn't use the delicacy of taking what he told them at face value, they thought it was suspicious but they made a big mistake and someone will pay the consequences . He is one of those who has followed the right path: in Guinea he is building his house, he sends the money to his parents. You can't lump everything together."
(Unioneonline/L)