Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

The suicide of Nourredine Adnane
Lunaria
Palermo, 11 February 2011. Nourredine Adnane, a Moroccan man of 27 from Ben
Hamed, a small village near Casablanca, is sitting next to his stall in Via Basile, near the
university. He is a street vendor who works to feed himself and his family; he holds a
regular residence permit and a vendor’s license. Unfortunately, it is a very restrictive
licence: he can sell his goods in the same place for no more than an hour at a time.
Although in this Sicilian city, illegality is very much part of everyday life, the limits
imposed by the license allow the local police to carry out constant check‐ups on the
vendors’ routine. This is what happens on the day in question, despite the fact that
Nourredine had already received three notifications in the previous week. The latest
request to move on, possibly exacerbated by the seizing of his merchandise, is the final
straw for Nourredine. He leaves the scene for a few minutes and returns holding a
bottle of petrol, which he proceeds to douse himself with before setting fire to himself.
He is taken to hospital with third‐degree burns over 80% of his body. He dies in a
Palermo hospital, after eight days of agony, on 19 February. His death cannot simply be
read as the result of anger and despair. Immediately after 11 February, his family,
friends and the leaders of the local trade unions and associations came forward,
outlining a situation that predated and transcended his desperate act. It came to light
that the local police patrol that operated in the neighborhood, and one of the officers –
known as Bruce Lee – in particular, was notably over‐zealous in performing these
routine check‐ups on foreign street vendors. 378 Noureddine’s cousin, Rashid Adnane,
spoke of a veritable persecution carried out against him and all the other street vendors,
and accused the local policemen of looking on passively instead of stopping the young
man from setting fire to himself. The immigration spokesman for the Palermo office of
the Cgil union confirmed: “It is an intimidating atmosphere for the immigrants. Some of
them have told us that the local policemen regularly handcuff the street vendors,
bundle them into their cars and drive them round the block. Having done this, they
requisition the merchandise without even drafting a report”. 379
The high number of witnesses for these abuses carried out by local police officers
eventually (a few months later) led to an enquiry, running parallel to the one on the
death of Nourredine, into the so‐called “traffic warden gang”: ten local police officers
and inspectors received a notice of investigation on counts of libel, causing injury,
forgery and falsification; some of them were members of the group that checked
Nourredine’s licence on 11 February. To back this up we find the statements given by a
number of Moroccan, Tunisian, Bangladeshi and Chinese street vendors. 380 People from
the neighbourhood, the Moroccan community and Palermo‐based associations,
expressed their solidarity in a well attended protest march on 19 February; sadly, the
378 Cf. E. Bellavia, “Se la legge diventa persecuzione nella città delle regole a intermittenza”- (When law becomes persecution in
the city of intermittent regulations”, 19 February 2011, repubblica.palermo.it and “Non hanno mosso un dito” - (They didn’t lift a
finger” 19 February 2011, lasicilia.web.it
379 Cf. “Al capezzale dell’ambulante ustionato. Tra lacrime, rabbia e preghiere” - (At the bedside of the street vendor who set
himself on fire. Tears, anger and prayers), 12 February 2011, repubblica.palermo.it
380 Cf. S. Palazzolo, “Angherie e botte agli ambulanti sotto inchiesta dieci vigili urbani”- (Abuse and beatings of street vendors.
Ten local policemen accused) 19 June 2011, repubblica.palermo.it.
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