Modena, 9 June 2024 – The medical examiner, a forensic expert from Algiers, had underlined how, following the results of the autopsy, the causes of death were clear: electrocution. The party’s expert, Dr. Radheshi, had reached the same conclusion, confirming: ‘the cause of death was attributable to electrocution, following a hand contact with an electrical conductor‘.
Yet, to date, there is no one guilty for the death of Alex Bonucchispecialized technician of Sacmi (which produces machines and systems for the ceramic industry) was electrocuted in a swimming pool at just 25 years old. The young man from Nonantola, former footballer and coach of Rolo (Reggio) was away on business (the company of Imolaalso based in Sassuolo, is unrelated to the investigation).
The drama occurred in Rouiba on January 4, 2021, in hotel swimming pool where he stayed. The boy’s body was subjected to an autopsy first on January 7, in Algiers and then the following week in Italy. The Rome prosecutor’s office had also opened an investigation into the crime of manslaughter towards the legal representative of the hotelthe same one who, in recent days, was acquitted in the parallel investigation in Algiers.
According to the Algerian sentence, the acquittal is due to the fact that, although he was electrocuted, ‘the death was due to the victim’s heart conditionas he was taking a heart medication’.
There family is ready to do battle contesting the sentence. Alex’s mother, Barbara Degli Esposti, does not give up and rewinds the tape of these years of anger and pain: “I was woken up with a phone call from the Italian Consulate at 00.45 on Tuesday 5 January 2021: they told me that my son was dead because of one electric shock in the hotel swimming pool. From the first testimony sent to me by the Italian embassy in Algiers, it appears that a soldier from Belarus, also a guest of the hotel, witnessed what happened: when he came out of the water Alex touched a electric wire which was located in the wall recess where an LED had been positioned. The colleague who was with my son in Algeria explains to me that he was notified of the death at 9pm: Alex died between 6pm and 7pm. Why all this time? Then everything is silent – he explains again –. After a year and a half, I asked for all of Alex’s documentation and found out that his body returned without his heart and right lung. They explain to me that they held them for investigations, which I never had any results of, and they buried them in a cemetery in Algeria, without consent. I went to Algeria in November 2022: my heart stopped in front of that swimming pool.”
According to the mother there were errors, lack of communication and it was left alone by the institutions. “I asked for help but the Italian Embassy told me that their laws apply there. The Farnesina? never heard”. Not only that: in July last year – he points out – the first hearing of the criminal trial took place, yet nothing was communicated to the victim’s family. “Nobody called us – he explains again – but in that hearing the version changed and the Belarusian soldier, initially a witness, disappears ‘from the scene’. They add that the swimming pool was closed due to Covid and that there were signs written in different languages prohibiting access. False – underlines Barbara – Furthermore, they claim that my son had a heart disease, but that’s not the case”.
Degli Esposti returned to Algeria in November 2023 for the appeal after the first trial closed without notifying the family, asking for justice for Alex’s death. Now the absolution. “We will go to the Supreme Court – concludes Barbara – but we also ask Italy to intervene. Alex was not only my son but a young Italian died in indifference and silence of the institutions and, above all, of its State”.
