Commission criticizes partisanship of the Vaudois judiciary
Published: Thursday, Nov 28th 2024, 13:30
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An independent commission has criticized the closure of the case in which a 37-year-old Swiss man of South African origin was shot dead by a police officer at Morges VD station in 2021. It is "shocked but unsurprised" by this biased decision by the Vaud public prosecutor's office, writes the commission.
The expert commission was set up in May 2023 to clarify the circumstances of the man's death. It is made up of lawyers, forensic experts and social scientists.
In a statement on Thursday, the Commission expressed its outrage at the fact that the Vaud public prosecutor's office issued an order on Tuesday to discontinue and dismiss the case. It is of the opinion that the public prosecutor responsible "did not carry out sufficient investigative work and ignored the issue of systemic racism".
The public prosecutor was assuming "an arbitrator's role that only a court is entitled to in such a case.
The judicial authorities had justified the dismissal of the case on the grounds that, in their opinion, the police officer who fired the fatal shot had acted in self-defense. According to the public prosecutor's office, neither the officer nor his three colleagues could be charged with failing to render assistance.
The lawyer for the victim's family has already announced an appeal to the cantonal court. The Commission of Experts supports this step and is calling for the police officers to be brought to justice. It is also calling on the Vaud public prosecutor's office to "transfer the case to an authority in another canton in order to ensure compliance with international obligations regarding an impartial investigation".
©Keystone/SDA
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