Criminal proceedings against a police officer accused of assaulting a prisoner got underway today, reports RÚV.
The officer stands accused of forcefully throwing the accusers head into the ground while escorting from his cell to appear in court last may. Following the incident the officer was suspended for nine months while the case was being investigated.
The prisoners had been arrested for stabbing another man the night before, but maintained that he had acted in self defence. The officer claimed that the suspected had become rowdy and disruptive while being interrogated.
Officer admits mistakes
According to the officer, the suspect had refused to cooperate when attempting to place him in handcuffs. In response, the officer had grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up against a wall, before pushing him to the ground. He has maintained that the prisoner continued to resist and therefore he had acted in this manner. Furthermore, he added that the prisoner had a history of violence against police.
The officer admits, however, to having made mistakes and that he went too far. He shouldn’t have been alone when dealing with the prisoner, and that pushing him to the ground had not been necessary.
Medical reports show that the prisoner received injuries to his head and a broken rib, but the officer claims that the injuries could have been caused by the fight the man had been involved in the previous night. The accuser gave his testimony before court and maintained that he had not sustained his injuries in the fight he had been engaged in, but from the hands of the officer.
Despite other witnesses corroborating, for the most part, the testimony given by the accused, the doctor who prepared the medical report claimed that it was possible to suffer broken ribs from the actions taken by the officer.
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