BRAZIL: LONDON POLICE WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED FOR GUNNING DOWN BRAZILIAN NATIONAL.
British prosecutors determined in July that they did not have enough evidence to prosecute police officers who shot Brazilian national Jean Charles de Menezes in the London subway system last year (see NotiSur, 2005-08-12). Menezes' family responded angrily to the decision by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), calling it "shameful" and saying it "sickened" them. The decision came four months after British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized for the killing.
"Insufficient evidence"
The 27-year-old de Menezes died on July 22, 2005, when Metropolitan Police officers followed him into the London subway, known as the Tube, and shot him seven times in the head. Police officers mistook him for a suicide bomber, just weeks after the July 7 suicide bombings killed dozens of commuters and after attempted suicide bombings had failed the day before. A surveillance team had been monitoring a block of flats in south London, where de Menezes lived, in the belief that a man wanted in connection with the previous day's attempted suicide bombings resided there.
When de Menezes, an electrician, exited the flats, police wrongly identified him as the suspect and followed him to Stockwell, where he was shot as he boarded a Tube train.
Police reports after the shooting had several statements that were later disputed or disproved. Early reports suggested he had been challenged by police and fled--vaulting the barriers and then bolting down an escalator with armed officers in pursuit. He was also said to have been wearing a bulky jacket, which added to suspicions.
However, leaks from the IPCC investigation revealed that he had only been wearing a light denim jacket, that he had calmly walked through the station, and that he even picked up a free newspaper.
He was only intercepted when he was actually on the train, when he was suddenly grabbed from behind, had his arms pinned to his side, and was shot seven times in the head at point-blank range, according to reports.
After a long investigation process, the IPCC and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) determined that it would prosecute no individual officers but said that the Metropolitan Police as a whole should be prosecuted under health and safety laws for the killing.
Reacting to the CPS decision regarding health and safety, the Police said in a statement it was "concerned and clearly disappointed." But on the decision not to prosecute individual officers it was "pleased for the officers and...
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