An appeal court in Switzerland on Monday, July 8, 2024, confirmed the acquittal of six police officers charged with negligent homicide and abuse of office in the case of a Nigerian man, Mike Ben Peter Amadasun, who died during an arrest.
The Vaud Cantonal Court rejected an appeal against the original not-guilty verdict last year.
According to the court, the emergency services reacted proportionately.
Monday’s ruling sparked immediate protests and chants of “Shame!” outside the courthouse.
Around 80 people crowded outside the court in Renens outside Lausanne in western Switzerland, shouting: “Black lives matter!”, “Justice for Mike”, and “Police kill, the judiciary acquits!”
LIB reported that 39-year-old Mike had resisted a drug check in Lausanne and died whilst being arrested by the six accused police officers in 2018.
In the encounter with the six police officers, he was pinned to the ground on his stomach. He died in hospital a few hours later after suffering a heart attack.
During the first trial in June last year, a court in Lausanne ruled that the six officers involved could not be found guilty of negligent homicide.
The public prosecutor’s office also decided to drop the charges, referring in particular to forensic analyses that were unable to state with certainty that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.
After three days of hearings last week at the cantonal appeals court in Renens, three judges confirmed the lower court ruling, acquitting the officers of negligent homicide.
They also acquitted them on additional charges of abusing their authority, brought by the lawyer of Ben Peter’s family, Simon Ntah.
