Death of man pinned down by cop 'new Cucchi case'

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 20 - The death in Sicily in 2019 of a man with mental health problems after he was pinned down for 20 minutes by a Carabiniere who had been called in by his ex-wife who felt threatened by the man is a "new Cucchi case," says Senator Ilaria Cucchi who lost her brother Stefano to police brutality in 2009.
    The man, Enrico Lombardo, a 42-year-old father of three children, died on the night of October 27 2019 at Spadafora near Messina.
    The official cause of death was a heart attack due to self-inflicted concussion but Cucchi, Amnesty International and the defendants' rights group A Buon Diritto say Lombardo was immobilised like George Floyd and also badly beaten with a truncheon.
    A judge has shelved the case but the family is appealing and have shown reporters photos "that show a body tortured by bruises, lesions and wounds in all the parts of the body.
    "He was covered in blood," they said.
    Senator Cucchi, who recently got justice for her brothers' death, said "can't we call this torture?" The supreme Court of Cassation will decide whether to reopen the case on Friday.
    photo: Senator Cucchi (ANSA).