Jozef Chovanec: All charges dropped in death of Slovak man arrested at Charleroi Airport
There will be no trial over the death of Jozef Chovanec, the Slovak man who died after being restrained by police at Charleroi Airport in 2018, after the charges against all 31 defendants were dismissed.
The case had been argued before chambers in January. The public prosecutor's office had requested that charges against all the defendants – mainly police officers – be dismissed, while the civil parties had requested that the case be referred to the courts for trial.
Chovanec died on 27 February 2018 at the Marie Curie hospital in Charleroi, where he had been admitted on 24 February after suffering a heart attack. The 38-year-old businessman was due to take a flight from Charleroi to Slovakia but was denied boarding after he misplaced his travel documents. He became aggressive and was arrested.
15 days to appeal
In custody, he hit his head against a cell wall dozens of times. While in an agitated state, he was overpowered and forcibly restrained by several police officers. His head was wrapped in a blanket before he was injected with a sedative.
CCTV footage of the intervention showed officers smiling and one officer giving a Hitler salute. A reconstruction of the events took place in September 2021.
In a press release, the chambers of the Hainaut Court of First Instance said there was “no reason to prosecute the persons mentioned in the claim”. “The chambers took this decision based on the totality of the factual circumstances and the contradictory and detailed decisions of the panel of experts,” it said.
According to the court report, Chovanec died of a brain injury caused by banging his head against the wall. Experts called by lawyers acting for Chovanec’s widow, Henrieta Chovancová, said suffocation was the most likely cause of death.
The civil parties – Chovancová and the Slovak state – have 15 days to appeal the decision.
Lawyers Ann Van de Steen and Lievens Leroy, representing the widow of Jozef Chovanec, during the decision of the council chamber in Charleroi, 25 September 2024 © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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