A note published on the official website of the Foreign Ministry indicates that in relation to these events, which occurred at the end of last February, Tajani recently addressed the North American ambassador, Jack Markell, whom he reminded that “the Italian government diligently follows each case of detention.” of its citizens abroad.”
The minister also had a telephone conversation with the mother of Matteo Falcinelli, a 25-year-old Italian student who since 2021 is studying a master’s degree at Florida International University (FIU), to whom he expressed his solidarity for “the violence and the type of “treatment that has been applied to our young compatriot.”
According to reports released in recent hours in the main news media in this country, in the early hours of February 25, Falcinelli was arrested outside a nightclub by Miami police officers, when he asked for help to recover two cell phones. lost in that place.
Although he was only trying to claim his rights, he was brutally thrown to the ground by the uniformed officers, who performed the immobilization maneuver with a knee pressing on the back of his neck, the same one that caused the death of George Floyd, murdered during his arrest in May. 2020, in the American city of Minneapolis.
The phones were recovered and returned moments later by the club staff, but according to the police body cameras, whose images were obtained on April 12 by the lawyers, after the place’s doorman handed them over to the police, The violence against the young Italian became extreme.
Once in a traffic cell at the North Miami Beach police station, he was tied hand and foot, after which he was subjected to abuse for 13 minutes, according to testimony and evidence, including camera footage. own police station.
After paying bail of four thousand dollars, given by his fellow students at FIU, he managed to get out of jail two days later, and was transferred to a hospital to treat his injuries and his psychological affectation.
The Consulate General in Miami took immediate action, because in addition to intervening with the local authorities, it provided the necessary assistance, provided Falcinelli’s family with legal support and stressed to the local authorities the unacceptability of the abuse to which the young man was subjected, it states. the note from the chancellery.
“The family is evaluating how to proceed,” lawyer Francesco Maresca, in charge of this process, said in statements to the press, who announced that it is likely that within this week the case will be brought to the attention of the Rome Prosecutor’s Office. , responsible for handling actions against Italian citizens abroad.
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