Cologne City Gazette
Cologne. (ots)
Almost two years after a violent operation against a 59-year-old man in Cologne-Bickendorf, the public prosecutor’s office indicted five police officers before the regional court. As the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” (Saturday edition) reports, citing legal circles, the officials have to answer for joint bodily harm in office. Two months after the violent arrest, the Italian father died because he had not gone to the doctor to receive medical treatment for the fractured ribs sustained during the operation.
Another case of assault is added to one of the defendants. There is also the suspicion that the 40-year-old police commissioner and his patrol colleague pursued an innocent man. According to the indictment, the two police officers are said to have lied in a criminal complaint against their victim and constructed a self-defence situation. From the point of view of the public prosecutor, the use against the Italian national was completely unnecessary. A co-accused colleague is also said to have betrayed secrets in four cases because he carried out queries on the police computer for acquaintances. Defense attorney Christoph Arnold, who represents the main accused, rejects the allegations: “The trial will prove my client’s innocence.”
The indictment is based on the testimonies of three local residents. After the 59-year-old insulted the emergency services, the officers brought him to the ground and then hit and kicked him. However, the investigations also brought to light exculpatory statements from eyewitnesses who claim not to have seen police violence.
However, the prosecutor evaluates compromising chats from the emergency services as evidence for her allegations: Shortly after the event, an officer posted: “Just one knocked over.”
Link to article: www.ksta.de/542935 (from Saturday, 7 a.m.)
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Original content from: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, transmitted by news aktuell
