Zurich city police officer faces court over assault of restrained detainee
A Zurich city police officer is accused of beating and kicking a restrained asylum seeker. Despite the charges, he continues to work in active service.
Zurich police officer accused of beating restrained man in criminal police building
A Zurich city police officer is before the District Court of Zurich after the public prosecutor's office alleges that in October 2023 he severely assaulted a restrained asylum seeker in the criminal police building. According to Blick, the court will rule on the case on Wednesday.
According to the charge sheet, the accused officer escorted the arrested man from the special unit in district 1 to the criminal police building in district 5. The man was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, behaved cooperatively and was "at no point aggressive". On the way to the cell block, the police officer allegedly pressed deliberately on the man's handcuffs without "factual grounds", causing him pain.
In front of the lock leading to the prison cell block, the officer allegedly pressed the restrained man against the wall and struck his head against it two to three times. He then allegedly struck him with his own shoe on the back of the head and dealt him several punches to the ribs. After this, he allegedly "hurled the man into the cell with a throwing motion".
When the police officer ordered the prisoner to go down on his knees, the latter did not comply – according to the charge sheet due to a language barrier. The man, an asylum seeker from North Africa, apparently did not understand the command. The officer then allegedly kicked him from behind on the back of the knee, causing the restrained man to collapse to the ground, and subsequently kicked him several times on the leg.
For the public prosecutor's office, it is clear that the police officer used "absolutely unjustified force". It is seeking a suspended fine of 19,800 Swiss francs and a penalty of 4,000 francs for abuse of office. The accused disputes the allegations.
Notably, the police officer has been charged neither with assault nor with battery. The public prosecutor's office justifies this on the grounds that the alleged victim did not file a complaint. The North African man is no longer traceable by the authorities.
Criminal defence lawyer Duri Bonin, who is not himself involved in the case, considers this reasoning not entirely convincing, according to Blick. Simple assault is prosecuted ex officio when the victim is defenceless or in the custody of the perpetrator – which the charge sheet precisely suggests. "The absence of a criminal complaint therefore does not in itself explain why no assault charge was brought", Bonin says. In the case of battery too, there is a corresponding exception for repeated attacks on a person in custody.
Despite the ongoing criminal proceedings, the accused remains in active service. "The police officer in question continues to work for Zurich city police", a police spokesman confirmed to Blick. The spokesman declined to make further statements, citing the ongoing criminal proceedings and data protection.
Source: Blick