A Swiss appeals trial began Monday of six police officers acquitted over the death in custody of a Nigerian man, which has drawn comparisons to George Floyd’s killing in the United States.
Dozens of people gathered outside the courthouse in Renens, in western Switzerland, to show support for the family of Mike Ben Peter, an AFP journalist observed.
The 39-year-old died following a violent arrest after he refused a police drug search in Lausanne in early 2018.
In the encounter, involving six police officers, he was pinned to the ground, on his stomach, his family’s lawyer Simon Ntah told AFP prior to the initial trial.
“He was held in positional asphyxia” for several minutes, he said.
Ben Peter died in hospital a few hours later after suffering a heart attack.
His death initially received little attention, but the global outcry over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020 placed a bigger spotlight on the Swiss case.
Ntah maintained that there were “enormous similarities” with Floyd’s killing, but Ben Peter’s encounter with the police was not filmed.
During the initial trial in June last year, a lower court in Lausanne deemed that the six officers involved in the incident could not be found guilty of negligent homicide.
The public prosecutor’s office also decided to drop the charges, referring in particular to forensic expertise, which was unable to state with certainty that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.
The verdict drew strong reactions and protests.
Around 50 demonstrators came out Monday in support of Ben Peter’s widow, who was attending the trial with her lawyer and brother-in-law.
They raised a large, black banderole with the words “No justice, no peace” written in white letters — a slogan that has become ubiquitous in protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.
“We are very disappointed and really mad” at how the first trial proceeded, a protester who only gave her name as Djamila, told AFP.
She argued that the initial investigation “was flouted (and) the witnesses were not heard”, also slamming the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charges before the end of the trial.
The appeals trial will last through Wednesday, with a verdict expected next Monday.
AFP
