A Slovak died after being detained at a Belgian airport. He might have fallen victim of police violence

The media have published pictures of police officers kneeling on the man’s chest.

The Charleroi airportThe Charleroi airport (Source: AP/TASR)

Police in Belgium are looking into the death of a Slovak who died shortly after being detained at Charleroi airport two years ago. His family claims he was the victim of police violence, the ČTK newswire reported.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Several Belgian media outlets published pictures from prison cameras capturing one police officer giving a Nazi salute, while others were laughing at it. Moreover, another police officer was kneeling on the man’s chest for about 16 minutes, the Sme daily wrote.

“Constricting the lungs of our client for 16 minutes isn’t normal,” said Lennert Dierickx, the lawyer representing the family of the deceased Slovak, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad