Shabelle Media Network
(Mogadishu)
8 October 2008
Mogadishu — Amina Sheikh Said, a 51-year-old Italian woman of Somali origin, complained that she was humiliated, abused, outraged, and held naked for hours Rome's Ciampino airport.
The woman who returned to Italy in late July, from a trip to London with four grandchildren, told Italian newspapers she was first accused of kidnapping children, then of human trafficking, and after that of being a drug courier, and was held naked for hours.
Airport staff and security personnel attempted, but were unable to persuade Mrs. Said to consent to an invasive search. After four hours, she was brought by ambulance to Policlinico Casilino hospital. Mrs. Said explained that she was thoroughly searched at the hospital and hospital staff found no contraband on her person.
"I was shocked, not expecting that something like this could happen to me," said Mrs. Said. "I have lived in Italy since 1984, have never experienced an act of racism like this, and hope it will not happen again," she continued.
Mrs. Said is married to Luigi Mancuso, an Islamic lawyer who works in Rome.
The woman and her husband, in the past, had been arrested (in different situations) for possession of khat, which is banned in Italy. Mr. and Mrs. Mancuso, however, were acquitted of all charges in each of the previous incidents.
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