Dying 18 in the hands of the police
In the early morning of September 24th, 2005, Federico Aldrovandi, an
18-years-old boy, died in the hands of the police in Ferrara, Italy.
They left him for five hours on the ground, initially hiding the truth
to his mother, who had called them to inquire about him. The police
version reports phone calls from people of the neighbourhood, alarmed by
the odd behaviour of the boy, who allegedly fainted when arrested.
Nobody can say what actually happened. The police deny every
responsibility for his death, maintaining that he hurt himself and died
due to drugs overdose. According to toxicological exams, overdose cannot
possibly have been the reason for Federico Aldrovandi's death. Four
months after that incident, details as described by medical referees
have not been 'officialised' yet, although they mention numerous
signs of violence over his whole body, a bruised laceration on his head,
violet coloured stripes by handcuffs on his wrists, and his scrotum smashed.
Federico's mother told that she got her son's clothes literally soaked
with blood.
The news has remained unknown for months. Only recently has the silence
been broken by a blog opened by the boy's family, who is asking that
light be thrown on the event.
Updates:
The plaintiffs' experts' report proved that Federico died of postural
asphyxia: he had been actually handcuffed and forced on his stomach and
at least one person had exerted pressure on his back. The Public
Prosecution coroner's necropsy has now been registered, although the
prosecutor had asked the registration to be postponed by 30 more days in
order to repeat the toxicological analyses. Details have not been made
public yet, but the results of the prosecution's exams are different
from those revealed by the plaintiffs' experts. Wishing to react to the
attempts to hide the truth, Federico's mother has published her son's
photo shot after the beating, a photo which is very harsh and revealing.
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