The Prosecution Office in Charleroi said it would not press charges against the police officers responsible for Slovak citizen who died after he was held in custody at Charleroi airport in 2018.
Josez Chovanec was arrested at Charleroi Airport in 2018 after he caused a disturbance on a plane due to take off for Slovakia. He was apprehended by police and video footage emerged of him banging his head against a wall until it bled and officers forcibly restrained him. In footage that was subsequently leaked, a female officer can be seen making a Hitler salute while laughing and a male officer appears to hit him repeatedly in the chest for 16 minutes.
Chovanec died in hospital the next day.
“I find it unacceptable that the Belgian Public Prosecutor’s Office has published an opinion which does not imply any criminal liability for the brutal behaviour of police officers,” said MEP Miriam Lexmann (EPP).
“The Slovak Republic strongly calls for a thorough investigation of the case and possible accountability,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
Slovak Justice Minister Viliam Karas (We are Family) said in a statement that the decision of Belgian prosecutors is not final.
Belgian doctors found the cause of death to be severe blows to the head as they caused cerebral edema. The doctors also concluded that the cardiac arrest was only triggered by an injection from paramedics who tried to calm him down.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is providing all necessary assistance in the case. Further steps in the case will be taken by a coordinated procedure of all partners involved,” Slovakia’s Justice Ministry which coordinates with the prosecution in this case said.
Slovakia’s now-former foreign minister Ivan Korčok already expressed disappointment regarding the investigations length, in July 2021.
“We recognise that the administrative processes involved in investigating a case take some time. However, after three years, we expect concrete results of the investigation into the cause of death and the bringing of possible perpetrators to justice,” he said at the time.
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
