Vienna police officers in court following arrest: man suffered brain damage
Several officers are alleged to have seriously injured a 54-year-old during detention and subsequently neglected him in prison. A police secretary also contradicts the account of a superior.
Vienna police officers in court following arrest: man suffered brain damage
A criminal investigation is underway against four Vienna police officers. They are accused of seriously injuring a protester during his arrest in May of last year in a way that endangered his life, and subsequently ignoring him whilst in custody.
The man affected, a 54-year-old cleaner from Ukraine, had been living in the Austrian capital for a decade. On 9 May 2024, he took part in a protest action at Schwarzenbergplatz that was directed against a commemorative event held by the Russian embassy. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.76 per mille.
Following a verbal dispute with police officers, the man resisted a police measure. Shortly afterwards, he lay on the ground whilst an officer pressed his knee onto the man's neck. This method is prohibited because it compresses the carotid artery.
According to an indictment from the Korneuburg State Prosecutor's Office, as first reported by the APA, this led to multiple cerebrovascular insults. The injured party suffered permanent neurological deficits as a result, which rendered him unable to work. For a long time he was dependent on a wheelchair; now he can only move about with a walking aid.
The situation worsened in the Roßauer Lände detention centre. About an hour after being admitted, the detainee collapsed in cell 232. He spat blood, his speech was unintelligible, he complained of numbness and could not maintain his balance. A forensic assessment classifies the course of events as sudden.
The inmate pressed the alarm button, hammered on the door and called for help. According to the prosecution authorities, a guard did not respond and neither alerted emergency physicians nor informed his superiors. Three other staff members are said to have grossly neglected their duty of care.
Particularly explosive are the events during a subsequent interrogation. A senior police legal officer, a senior counsellor, is alleged to have fabricated a confession from the injured man. Protokollantin (record-taker) Petra M. firmly contradicts this version: she heard no such words from the man throughout the entire questioning. Instead, the superior dictated to her what she should write down.
Despite the obvious impairment to his health, the legal officer imposed a monetary fine. The injured party was then placed in a wheelchair on the street. Only then did he himself call the emergency services, who admitted him to a specialist stroke unit.
Forensic pathologist Nikolaus Klupp considers the signs recognisable even to laypeople. All the defendants deny the actions alleged against them and claim to have noticed no abnormalities. The main hearing is scheduled for 1 July.
Source: falter.at
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)