Modena, September 18, 2026 – In light of the news regarding research on Osama Bin Laden, the Islamic State, ISIS, and other Islamist figures and associations, by Salim El Koudri, the Modena attacker, the debate on the judicial process of the attacker and the psychiatric evaluation ordered in a preliminary hearing by the judge, which will be discussed on October 2, has regained momentum today.
The victim’s family lawyer
“If he is deemed capable of understanding and willing or if he is deemed capable of understanding and willing enough, we will request that terrorism charges be brought,” said today Liborio Cataliotti, who represents the mother, a brother, and a sister of Monica Esposito, the 55-year-old who died two months after being hit in downtown Modena by the car driven by El Koudri. On May 16, seven other people were injured.
“For an act to be defined as terrorist – explains Cataliotti – it must be aimed at inducing terror, destabilizing institutions.” Therefore, the subject’s awareness must be verified. If terrorism is charged, there would be territorial jurisdiction consequences (which would move from Modena to the Bologna District Prosecutor’s Office) but also in terms of compensation to the victims. From the analyses carried out, it appears that in the two months before the attack, ‘every other day El Koudri conducted specific web searches: IS, Islamic State,'” says the lawyer.
Bignami (FdI): “Far from ‘mental imbalance’ as the left said, El Koudri was radicalized”
“The latest revelations about the attack carried out in Modena by Salim El Koudri – declares today Galeazzo Bignami, leader of Brothers of Italy in the Chamber of Deputies – once and for all dispel the left’s attempts to minimize a massacre as a mere ‘act of a madman’. The data emerging from the analysis of the attacker’s phone and computer speak clearly and outline a picture of radicalization and ideological premeditation that cannot and must not be ignored. Far from the ‘mental imbalance’ with which the left tried to hide the truth, faced with 68,000 targeted online accesses in the 63 days preceding the attack, with systematic searches on the Islamic State (ISIS), we are dealing with an Islamist-motivated attack, for which the aggravating factor of terrorist intent is not only evident but mandatory. Brothers of Italy demands full clarity. We will not accept shadows or cover-ups dictated by a left that has always preferred to minimize and hide reality. What will they say now? Will the mayor of Modena continue to accuse those, like us, who asked to investigate the Islamist fundamentalism angle without blinders, of scaremongering? Instead, what is emerging is confirmation of a cultural and political failure on the front of security and territorial control,” concludes Bignami.
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The response of the mayor of Modena
“I see that Honorable Bignami continues to repeat his nonsense as if, by repeating them continuously, they would become truth – is the prompt reply to Bignami from Massimo Mezzetti, mayor of Modena –. In Modena no one forgets and will ever forget what happened on May 16, and therefore no one intends to cover up nor could we ever have this power. From the beginning, I stated that we would wait for the outcome of the investigations to have the clearest possible picture and that the person responsible for this attack would pay for his crimes before justice. Saying otherwise is false and in bad faith but above all shows a willingness to exploit a tragedy that caused very serious injuries and also the death of a person, Monica Esposito. I consider this a shameful act, unworthy of a politician who has even held government roles, and offensive towards the city of Modena.”
Then the mayor continues: “As I have already said, and therefore repeat, he should turn to Interior Minister Piantedosi who was the first to declare that the people of Modena could be reassured because the attack was not terrorist in nature but to be placed within the context of mental distress. I rather asked for caution and to wait for the investigations. That judgment, on the psychiatric nature of the act, was reiterated on Monday, May 18, also by Foreign Minister Tajani in the City Council chamber when he came to visit the city of Modena. I therefore think that Bignami’s attacks should be directed more at his ministers rather than at me and I invite him again, for consistency, to submit an inquiry to Minister Piantedosi, and also to Tajani, to account for the statements made, even in an institutional setting,” he adds.
