Belgian police laughed, gave Nazi salute when suspect died in custody
Jozef Chovanec died in police custody in 2018, but recently revealed images of the incident raise questions about police conduct.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFBelgian police walk in central Verviers, a town in the east of Belgium January 15(photo credit: REUTERS)
The wife of a Slovakian man who died in police custody in Belgium in 2018 has called for a new investigation into her husband's death, following the release of new images depicting police brutality as well as an officer giving a Nazi salute, the BBC reported Thursday.In February 2018, Belgian police arrested Jozef Chovanec at Charleroi airport for causing a disturbance on his flight. The flight wasn't unusual, as he frequently traveled between the two countries for his business, which recruited Slovakian construction workers for projects in Belgium.While he was in police custody, however, Chovanec started banging his head on the wall until he bled, causing officers to pin him down. He was promptly hospitalized, but fell comatose and died the following day, the BBC reported.However, footage of this incident, obtained by Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, showed more detail, depicting officers laughing while they pin Chovanec down, with one officer seemingly giving a Nazi salute and another officer is sitting on his ribs for 16 minutes straight, according to the BBC.Now, much of the incident is in question, including Chovanec's behavior in custody, as an autopsy found that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs."I want to know what happened and why [the police] behaved that way," Chovanec's wife, Henrieta, told Het Laatste Nieuws. She added that "Something seemed to be going on with my husband, he wasn't feeling well, but the police ignored my husband all night. When they saw the blood, they should have given him first aid. Instead, they sat on him with so many people. He couldn't breathe properly."Some have immediately compared the incident to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis back in May, who died when a police officer suffocated him after restraining him with a knee to the neck for over eight minutes, despite Floyd vocally protesting "I can't breathe." His death sparked a series of protests in the US and across the world against racism and police brutality, with many calling for greater accountability for the actions of law enforcement and even the defunding and dissolving of police departments.An investigation into Chovanec's death remains ongoing, but Henrieta has called for a new judge to be appointed to the case. According to a Charleroi public prosecution spokesperson, all officers involved have already been interviewed, but there is a delay in the case due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the BBC reported.Many Belgian politicians have expressed disgust at the incident. Speaking to Belgian media, Interior Minister Pieter de Crem called the images "extremely shocking," but added that the police inspectorate would be responsible for taking action. Speaking to Flesmish broadcaster VRT, a spokesman for the VSOA police union said "that Hitler salute and that dancing is utterly unacceptable and inappropriate," but did not know enough to make any accusations against the officers involved, the BBC reported. However, a police spokesperson did tell the news site Sudinfo that the officer giving the Nazi salute would be fired.
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