In a Swiss court case that began on Monday, six police officers are accused of manslaughter in connection with the death of a 39-year-old Nigerian.
In a situation eerily similar to the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the United States, the Nigerian citizen Mike Ben Peter passed away from a heart attack after being trapped face down during his detention for several minutes.
Contrary to the circumstance surrounding George Floyd, whose passing was documented in a video that went viral and provoked widespread outrage, there is no footage of the encounter that led to Ben Peter's death.
While Ben Peter's death in 2018 garnered little publicity outside of the western Swiss city where it occurred, which saw a small-scale protest, Officer Derek Chauvin's death in 2021 in the US was based on cellphone footage showing him kneeling on Floyd's neck.
The cops are accused of "homicide by neglect" before a Lausanne criminal court, although their identities were withheld according to Swiss privacy rules. Their attorneys stated that they will all fight the accusations and work to be exonerated.
Since 2016, there have been four instances of Black men dying as a result of police interventions in the canton of Vaud. Protests and requests for reform have been prompted by them.
In a study issued last year that highlighted severe concerns about "excessive use of force and the expectation of impunity by police" and mentioned this case, a group of UN experts claimed that Switzerland has systemic racism problems. Since then, a government-ordered report has been published that acknowledged the structural nature of the issue and found that current solutions are insufficient.
The family's attorney, Simon Ntah, expressed his lack of optimism for a conviction against the policemen, who might receive a three-year maximum term.
He lamented the fact that the same public prosecutor who collaborates with the police on other criminal matters is assigned to handle situations like this, saying, "As long as there isn't a mechanism for independent investigations against the police we are stuck with the same problems."
The office of the public prosecutor declined to comment.
