Ex-police officer probed for offensive photo showing him mocking Nigerian man who died while being arrested in Switzerland

A former Swiss police officer is being investigated for a controversial photograph that apparently shows him mocking a Nigerian man who died while being arrested, SwissInfo reported on Monday, July 10, 2023. 

LIB reported that 39-year-old Mike Ben Peter Amadasun suffered a fatal heart attack after he was held down in the street in Lausanne during a drugs arrest in 2018.

The photograph, taken in 2018, shows the ex-police officer in a thumbs up pose in front of the inscription “RIP Mike”.

The offensive photograph was first revealed by Swiss public broadcaster RTS.

The police officer in the photo left the force in 2020 and currently works in another department in the city’s administration.

A spokesperson for the Lausanne council said a request has been lodged to open administrative proceedings against the man in the photograph. 

Meanwhile, on June 23, 2023, the Lausanne district court cleared six police officers, all white, of charges of negligent homicide. But the dead man’s family have since launched an appeal. 

Simon Ntah, the lawyer of Mike Ben Peter’s family, confirmed that an appeal had been lodged with the cantonal court against the recent acquittals.

“We believe that the facts have been poorly investigated. There is no question for the family to give up,” Ntah told the Keystone-SDA news agency. 

The court ruled that the officers were not responsible for the fatal heart attack suffered by Ben Peter. Judge Pierre Bruttin described the case as “tragic” but said the officers had to be acquitted based on the evidence which drew on medical experts’ testimonials.

The officers had denied the charges, which could have brought a maximum sentence of three years in prison had they been convicted. Swiss privacy laws mean they cannot be named.

Bruttin said Ben Peter’s death had been “multi-factoral”, citing his obesity and the stress of the situation among the factors. 

According to the indictment, the officers first noticed Ben Peter during a drug patrol after he collected a bag later shown to contain marijuana. The indictment said he did not comply with police requests and the officers used pepper spray and knee kicks to the ribs and crotch to get him on the ground and handcuff him.

It said he continued to struggle as he was held face-down by officers for three minutes, until they noticed he appeared unconscious. Ben Peter was later pronounced dead after a heart attack.

Supporters of the victim’s family left the courtroom as the verdict was read out shouting “shame” and “scandal”. Shortly after, about 100 protesters entered the court building booing and shouting “assassin” at defence lawyers and police.

At the end of the verdict, the widow of Mike Ben Peter announced that she would not be giving up and that she would “come back” before the courts.