He himself tells the attempted sexual violence against Amin Hachouch to the public prosecutor investigating the torture agents at the IPM Cesare Beccaria in Milan. The episode is part of those that led to 13 prison police officers being arrested on charges of torture, mistreatment and forgery. In the order of the Preliminary Investigations Judge Stefania Donadeo, the boy’s story begins on page 58. That on an evening at the end of November he wakes up because one of the officers puts a hand on his bottom. And he whispers to him: “Don’t worry, I just want to make love to you.” Hachouch doesn’t know the policeman’s name but reacts. He punches the operator, pushes him away, and the commotion awakens his cellmate. Which helps him chase the agent away.
The chief’s office
The report dates back to January 12, 2024. «I was sleeping in my underwear and I had covered myself with the sheet because it was very hot. As soon as I realized what was happening, I told the assistant “what do you want”. And he told me “don’t worry, I just want to make love to you”. I reacted violently and hit him with several punches. At that point Salim woke up and told me to stop.” The other inmate will confirm Amin’s accusations on the record. The violence at Beccaria occurred from autumn 2023 to last March. A dozen minors or just adults were involved. There are a total of 25 agents under investigation. Commander Francesco Ferone is among the eight suspended. Most of the violence occurred in the chief’s office, or in an area where there were no cameras.
The aggression
The order also tells of another attack suffered by Hachouch. The story begins when Salim Mahmoud asks for medicine. Shortly after, Hachouch hears him shout: “Amin, they’re beating me, be careful, they want to beat you too.” Immediately afterwards, ten officers go up the stairs. One of them opens the window of the armored car and asks Hachouch to come closer because he has to tell him something. Then he sprays pepper spray in his eyes. At that point six officers enter the cell and attack him with kicks and punches. They tell him: “You’re a son of a bitch, your mother is a slut, you’re an illegal immigrant, I’ll show you how to be a son of a bitch.” Then they take him to solitary confinement. One of them belts him on the genitals. Then they leave him inside. The next morning two other officers wake him up and slap and punch him: «You’re a bastard. You are an Arab gypsy. We are Neapolitans, you are shitty Arabs, you came yesterday…”.
Foreigners beaten bloody
One of the mothers of the victims said that the prison police officers differentiated between Italian and foreign inmates. She was the one who sent the report that triggered the prosecutor’s investigation. «A boy I met was locked in a room and beaten to death. It was often the same officer who struck, known to everyone in prison precisely because of the frequency and way in which he raised his hands. The victims were mainly young people who had no one to talk to during the interviews, unaccompanied foreigners for example. The officers did not see attentive mothers or family members to whom the inmates could tell about the violence”, she says.
«My son raped»
The woman says that no one has ever said anything: «Not even when my son was raped by a group of other boys. The officer present, when he understood the situation, left and let them attack him, finding plenty of time to obscure the cameras with chairs and various objects. The guards arrived only half an hour later, when the report of a young man unrelated to the group forced them to intervene. As soon as I discovered the episode I ran to the Beccaria asking to speak to who I believe was the commander of the penitentiary police: “Madam, what do you want it to be”, he told me. He was even worse than the agents because he hid everything. And on the day of the violence he didn’t even let him make a phone call home.”
The ex-convict
A former prisoner instead told the Corriere della Sera the nocturnal violence: «Once four assistants entered the cell next to ours, we heard the noises. They handcuffed and beat a boy, they kicked and punched him, at the time there were no cameras there yet. We all huddled in the corner of our bed, in silence, it was his turn. Another time they gave me a black eye, they kicked me three times and gave me a slap that I could no longer hear in one ear because I kept asking for the lighter. Nobody asked me any questions the next day.” Then he explains why he didn’t report it: «I don’t trust anyone, and no one trusts me. Who believes a child with a criminal record? My words and those of my friends remained in parentheses, they didn’t have much value, what counted was the reports of the assistants. And then they managed to make you feel that you were wrong. You came to think that they were right to beat you because you were nothing.”
Read also:
Tags: love officers attempted rape inmate Beccaria prison Milan
