Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes (born January 7, 1978 in Gonzaga , Minas Gerais , † July 22, 2005 in London , England ) was a Brazilian citizen who was the victim of an anti-terrorist operation by the London police on July 22, 2005 in the Stockwell station of the London Underground has been. The 27-year-old Brazilian, who had lived in London for three years, was shot dead at close range by plainclothes officers. According to the information available, it was the targeted killing because it was mistaken for a suspect at the time only on the basis of circumstantial evidence . The case caused concern, especially in his home country, and led to diplomatic resentment between Brazil and Great Britain .
Course of events
The incident took place on the morning of July 22nd, 2005, two weeks and one day after the July 7th attacks in London, in which four explosive devices detonated in public transport and 52 people were killed. According to police, Menezes' apartment block in South London's Lambeth was in the crosshairs of investigators after the address of the apartment block was found in one of the backpacks in which the bombs that had not fully detonated from the previous day were located.
Menezes left home to go to work around 10 a.m. and was followed by plainclothes officers. After a bus ride to the nearby Stockwell underground station, Menezes was first approached by the police, according to police, but fled to the station and skipped the barriers. He stumbled or fell while jumping on a waiting train and was held on the ground by four officers, whereupon one of the police officers pulled a gun and fired the fatal shots in the back of the head. This police account has been repeatedly called into question. Scotland Yard also had to publicly correct its description of the course of the crime several times. According to recent press reports (January 2006), the police officers reported wrongly by radio that Menezes was a wanted Muslim suspect of terrorism. This message is said to have been removed from the logs later in order to be able to shift responsibility to the local emergency services (see wikilinks and web links).
It was later revealed that at least eleven shots had been fired at de Menezes: seven hit him in the head and one hit the shoulder. Three shots missed the victim.
The police justified their actions with the danger of a possible bomb attack or an accidentally triggered explosion. The persecutors suspected that de Menezes was a terrorist who was involved in the acts of the past few days and possibly carried a bomb. The reason given was the address found as well as the young man's unusually thick clothing and southern appearance. After the chase, it was allegedly clear to the police that they were facing a suicide bomber who might have been armed with an explosive belt .
A day after the incident, Scotland Yard announced that the man had nothing to do with the attack . The authorities announced an investigation. Brazil's Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim , was outraged by the man's death. He and the relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes demanded a quick clarification of the incident. The Brazilian press wrote of an " execution " in this context .
Scotland Yard defended his policy of " finals rescue shot " ( Shoot to kill policy ) as "alternative". Since 2002, security forces in the UK have been instructed to shoot possible suicide bombers directly in the head rather than aiming at the body first. This is to prevent the shots from triggering a bomb or the assassin from finding time to detonate a possible explosive device. Critics doubt that such an approach is justifiable in a constitutional state. Shoot to kill turn policemen into judges.
examination
Since the end of July 2005, the incident has been investigated by three investigative commissions of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is responsible for investigating serious misconduct by the police in Great Britain.
On August 16, the British television broadcaster ITV released video recordings from the surveillance cameras of the underground station as well as parts of an internal report by the IPCC that had come to the press, contradicting the original descriptions of the London police on several points:
- Menezes didn't wear “thick winter clothes”, but a denim jacket and trousers.
- Menezes did not jump over the ticket control, but behaved completely inconspicuously in the subway station, and then only walked to the train on the platform because it was arriving.
The London police and their boss Sir Ian Blair were accused of manipulating and attempting to cover up in this context.
In the course of the investigation, the legality of Menezes' stay in Great Britain was repeatedly questioned, which, if confirmed, could significantly reduce the chances of legal proceedings against the police.
Menezes' family had meanwhile started their own campaign which, in addition to providing full clarification and punishing those responsible, also called for the removal of shoot to kill - the so-called final rescue shot - from the police guidelines.
On June 8, 2006, a newspaper report, citing an employee of the UK Attorney General, announced that there was probably no way of identifying the officer who fired.
Mission leader Cressida Dick was promoted in February 2007 and is responsible for the security of the royal family, among other things. While the London police described the promotion as a signal that the authorities fully trust the officer, the von Menezes family were shocked by the measure.
On November 1, 2007, England's Supreme Criminal Court ruled Scotland Yard to pay a total of € 806,000 - £ 175,000 plus procedural costs (£ 385,000); the verdict is justified with "endangering public security", individual police officers "but no individual blame for the chaotic procedure in the pursuit and shooting of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes" can be assigned.
De Menezes' relatives were dissatisfied with the outcome of the proceedings, as they still did not consider the conduct of individual police officers to be sufficiently investigated. They obtained a retrial.
Since September 2008, a British court has dealt with the Menezes case again. It was about clarifying the events as well as the final assessment of who is to blame for the killing. A final verdict is expected for 2008. The family appeared as joint plaintiffs in the public trial.
On November 23, 2009, the British police announced that they would pay a severance payment of 100,000 pounds to the Jean Charles family in Brazil. Reasons for the sum mentioned are that the family was "relatively poor" and Jean Charles was single. For comparison, the article also lists the severance pay ex-UK Police Chief Ian Blair received when he resigned in October 2008 in connection with the Jean Charles death incidents: £ 400,000. The family in Brazil was not informed of the lawyers' settlement with the police. The lawyers had asked for three times the sum.
Cinematic processing
Kays Khalil processed the Menezes case in the twelve-minute animated film “Hit The Floor”, which was awarded the 3sat sponsorship award in 2007.
In 2009, Henrique Goldman's film "Jean Charles" was shown in Brazil, which deals with the subject of the last weeks of Jean Charles' life up to the reimbursement of funeral expenses by the British police. The well-known Brazilian actor Selton Mello played Jean Charles.
Web links
- www.justice4jean.org Website of the "Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign"
- www.n-tv.de ( Memento from July 25, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Article about the fatal shots on N-TV (July 24, 2005)
- Terror in London: "He just didn't want to be late for work". FAZ , July 24, 2005, accessed on August 28, 2012 .
- Scotland Yard: There were eight balls July 21, 2005 (tagesschau.de archive)
- Shot Brazilian: Fatal suspicion for no reason. Spiegel Online , August 15, 2005, accessed August 28, 2012 .
- Policewoman promoted despite being shot dead. Spiegel Online, February 19, 2007, accessed August 28, 2012 .
credentials
- ↑ Scotland Yard sentenced to a fine of around 806,000 euros
- ↑ Scotland Yard convicted of shooting innocent man
- ↑ tagesschau.de: Fatal police mishap in London in court ( Memento from October 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ British police pay severance payment to Jean Charles' family (in Portuguese)
- ↑ Jean Charles' parents were not informed about severance pay (in Portuguese)
- ↑ http://www.3sat.de/film/news/festivals/108175/index.html ( Memento from April 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) 3sat Award 2007 for short film "Hit the Floor"
- ^ [1] Entry in the IMDB about the feature film about Jean Charles de Menezes.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Menezes, Jean Charles de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian national who lived in London and was shot dead by police there |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1978 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gonzaga , Minas Gerais , Brazil |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 22, 2005 |
| Place of death | London , England , UK |