Charges against five Bern police officers after fatal operation
Published: Friday, Jul 19th 2024, 09:10
Back to Live Feed
The fatal police operation in Adelboden BE in May 2020 becomes a court case. The public prosecutor's office has brought charges against five members of the Bern cantonal police.
A 44-year-old Swiss man died during the operation. The police officer who fired the shots will have to answer to the Oberland Regional Court for intentional homicide and abuse of authority. Four of his superiors have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and abuse of authority.
Deputy Attorney General Christof Scheurer confirmed a corresponding report by the "Berner Zeitung" and "Bund" on Friday. The date of the court hearing has not yet been set.
On 21 May 2020, the police received a report that a man was behaving strangely in an apartment in Adelboden and had said he was going to harm himself. The Enzian special unit was called out.
The man was located in the locked bedroom, according to court documents on the internet. The police broke down the door. According to consistent statements, the man was standing in the room with a gun raised. A police officer then fired five shots. According to the forensic experts, he was shot in the head.
The public prosecutor's office dropped the case against the shooter and two other police officers in July 2021. Two of the deceased's brothers and his mother objected to this.
The High Court partially upheld their appeals against the discontinuation of the proceedings. The public prosecutor's office then resumed its investigations and extended them to include two decision-makers at the highest level of operations.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic