Zurich city police officer acquitted of misconduct charges
A Zurich city police officer was acquitted after being accused of assaulting an arrested person. The court harboured significant doubts about the credibility of the principal witness.
Acquittal for city police officer: Court questions witness testimony
According to Google News CH — Crime (de), a Zurich court has acquitted a city police officer of misconduct charges. The judge based the verdict on "substantial, insurmountable doubts" that the facts as described in the indictment had occurred as alleged.
The public prosecutor had accused the 35-year-old officer of assaulting an arrested Algerian man during a cell transfer in October 2023. Specifically, he was alleged to have struck the handcuffed man's head against the wall, hit him with his shoe on the back of the head, and kicked him in the hollow of the knee — without force being necessary. The public prosecutor sought a conditional fine of 180 daily rates of 110 francs each and a penalty of 4,000 francs, but declined to participate in the proceedings.
The defendant completely denied the allegations before the court on Wednesday. The man he had led into the cell had been heavily intoxicated, he said, which may have led to an aggressive change in mood. "I have done nothing wrong. I work cleanly," he stated.
His defence counsel fundamentally challenged the credibility of the sole incriminating witness, a security employee. Her statements were "infused with false memories" — neither the stated time nor the description of the officer were accurate. The defence counsel argued that the witness had confused two separate incidents from the same day: shortly after the transfer by his client, a second Algerian had been brought into the same cell block by two other city police officers. This second man had rolled around on the ground, called for a doctor, and complained of police brutality.
By contrast, the man the defendant had actually transferred had himself admitted to drinking an entire bottle of vodka alone the evening before. He had expressed no pain and had not requested a doctor.
The judge followed this account. While there had been some overlap between the defendant's statements and those of the witness, the security employee had herself stated that she had not seen the officer's face clearly. "Therefore, it cannot be determined with certainty which of the two transfers her descriptions actually refer to," the judge noted. Several key details provided by the witness — the time and the officer's description — had demonstrably been incorrect. A single error could have been attributed to a mistake; given the accumulation of false core statements, the case must be decided in favour of the defendant.
The verdict is not yet final. The public prosecutor may appeal to the Zurich higher court.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)