Italian businessman reports Maltese police over aggression

An Italian lorry driver has reported an aggressive manhandling by Maltese police officers after his lorry was set on fire while in Malta.

Driver Fabrizio Scirè filed a police report, as well as notified Malta’s home affairs ministry and the Italian embassy through his lawyer, of the aggression, which was recorded on a CCTV camera directly overhead.

In the video, Scirè appears to be in an animated dialogue with Rapid Intervention Unit officers while his lorry is on fire. But at one point, one of the officers grabs Scirè and pushes him onto the front of a car and later against a wall. The rest of the police officers then intervene.

Sicilian news outlet SiracusaNews reported the alleged aggression, saying that Scirè has been residing and working on the island for three years, where he runs a construction business.

In comments to SiracusaNews, Scirè said that he was asking the police officers to help him move the other cars next to the lorry so that they won’t catch fire. “Without any reason, the officers attacked me and my son, beating us up and calling us ‘f***ing Italians’.”

An internal investigation by the police is ongoing into the matter.