The case dates back to the night of February 23 to 24, 2018, when this passenger about to board in Charleroi for a flight to Bratislava was arrested by the police and placed in cell due to agitated behavior.
It resurfaced on Wednesday, because an unprecedented video footage was broadcast by the media, at the initiative of the victim’s widow denouncing the slowness of justice in determining the exact causes of death.
On these CCTV images, we can see the man bleeding profusely from his face after banging his head against a wall, after several hours of deprivation of liberty. It sthen an intervention to control him and then handcuff him, during which one of the officials of the federal police (six in total intervene) sits on the man lying face down on a mattress.
Some seem to be amused by the situation and a policewoman, standing slightly behind, briefly gives a Hitler salute, still according to these images from a camera placed in the cell.
Pieter De cream-colored said to himself shocked
The dissemination of the images of this intervention raises many questions and aroused a concert of indignation. The Interior Ministry promised Thursday to shed light on an “unacceptable” police intervention to control the passenger. Pieter De Cream, who said he was shocked, asked the General Police Inspectorate to initiate a disciplinary investigation. “This attitude towards someone is unbearable. Those are measures that were out of all proportion even if we must maintain public order“responded Pieter De cream-colored, Minister of the Interior.
An investigation under investigation since 2018
A judicial inquiry has also been under investigation since 2018. It must determine the causes of the victim’s death. New hearings must be carried out, in particular of the policewoman author of the Nazi salute. According to our information, she had already been heard in May 2018. “It was requested to inform the P committee of any organizational or structural dysfunctions within the framework of this judicial investigation. Committee P received a complaint in 2018 which was forwarded to the examining magistrate“the P committee said in a statement.
An investigation into the disciplinary aspect will be opened by the general police inspectorate. This is the behavior of the police that is targeted. The Justice and Interior committees of the Chamber will meet urgently next week. The Minister of the Interior should be heard.
Federal police number 2 withdraws
The revelation of this affair, pushed the number 2 of the federal police to withdraw, the time of the investigation. “I can still tell you that the top of the federal police, myself included, we will do everything to investigate in detail what happened and take all the measures that will prove necessary in this context.“, a promis André Children. The director of administrative police stepped aside following the case. He took office at the end of 2017, a few weeks before Mr. Schovanek. In particular, he oversees the aeronautical police whose intervention is questioned in this case. The revelation of this affair pushed the number 2 of the federal police to withdraw the time of the investigation.
M. Desenfants said he was deeply touched by the facts. “I can’t stand some things that I saw“, he said, assuring that he had discovered the images only after their release in the media. He would like the police to have urgent access to the judicial file still under investigation to see what measures can be taken on various aspects, including the disciplinary aspect. “Yes want to know why i was not aware of all the facts that happened“, he explained.
Amnesty International calls for investigation
Amnesty International is also calling for a thorough investigation into this death and the question of timing. “The It took the images to become public for all of a sudden things stir inside. And that is an image of what actually happens on a regular basis within the police apparatus in Belgium and which calls for an in-depth investigation.“, lamented Philippe Hensmans, director of Amnesty International Belgium.
–
